- After a three-year investigation, South Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission found widespread abuse and fraud in the country’s foreign adoption process. The commission held the government responsible for enabling these practices. They say it resulted in many adoptees being falsely labeled as orphans and denied proper consent from biological parents.
- More than 140,000 South Korean children have been adopted by families abroad over the past 75 years.
- The commission called on the government to issue a public apology and implement a survey to track adoptees’ citizenship status.
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After three years of investigation and hundreds of complaints, South Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission has uncovered troubling findings regarding the country’s foreign adoption process. The investigation, sparked by allegations from 367 adoptees from countries like Europe, the United States and Australia, blames the government for enabling abuse and fraud in the several-decade-old adoption system.
South Korea became major player in foreign adoption
South Korea’s adoption industry grew in the aftermath of the Korean War and the devastation left by World War II. For 75 years, families abroad adopted more than 140,000 South Korean children, with many of them now grown adults living in 11 different countries. Many of these individuals have spoken out about what they claim were malpractices in their adoption process.
“The word ‘active,’ coupled with ‘hurry-hurry culture,’ led to inadequate legislation and a hasty administrative process. The children bore the full brunt of the consequences.”
Park Sun Young, chairperson of Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Government’s role in abuse, fraud claims
The Truth Commission has found significant evidence that records were falsified to label adoptees as orphans abandoned by their biological parents. In many cases, this led to the breakdown of parental consent. Additionally, some adoptive parents were not properly screened, and others had to pay money to be granted a child.
More than half of the first 100 cases reviewed by the commission revealed human rights violations. Many adoptees had their complaints dismissed due to a lack of documentation. They argue this situation proves their case, given the absence of any formal protocol followed.
Calls for apology and support
The commission has called on the South Korean government to issue a public apology for its lack of oversight, acknowledging the pain caused to adoptees and their families. They also recommended conducting a survey to gather information about the citizenship of each adoptee, further highlighting the need for greater transparency in the process.
Despite the ongoing investigation, which began in 2022, the commission will not officially conclude until May. However, it has already made a stark assessment of the decades-old practices that continue to affect adoptees today.
Adoptees struggle to reconnect with birth parents
According to government data obtained by the Associated Press, less than a fifth of the 15,000 adoptees who requested help finding their biological families have been successfully reunited since 2012. This data underscores the long-standing challenges adoptees face in reconnecting with their roots.
