South Korea committed rights violations during overseas adoptions, truth commission finds

Thomson Reuters

· Posted: Mar 29, 2025 12:08 PM EDT | Last Updated: 21 minutes ago

South Korean adoption agencies sent children overseas similar "luggage" for decades, labelling immoderate arsenic orphans erstwhile they had parents and sending alternate babies erstwhile infants had died earlier heading overseas, a information commission said connected Wednesday.

After a two-year inquiry, South Korea's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was empowered by the country's parliament, recommended the authorities marque an authoritative apology, transportation retired follow-up investigations and enactment alleviation measures successful spot for victims.

It said it recovered quality rights violations successful the cases of astatine slightest 56 adoptees from a petition filed by 367 adoptees who were sent overseas betwixt 1964 and 1999 to 11 countries, including the United States, France, Denmark and Sweden.

In the past fewer years, respective European countries person investigated imaginable illicit activities successful their planetary adoption practices. Some person published their findings oregon struck up autarkic bodies. Canada has yet to travel suit.

CBC News has spoken to much than 20 adoptees successful Canada and astir the satellite who question the accuracy of their adoption paperwork from South Korea.

In presenting its findings, the commission published a representation of babies wrapped successful blankets and strapped into seats connected an airliner successful 1984, with the rubric "Children sent overseas similar luggage".

It noted South Korean adoption agencies complied with overseas agencies' demands to nonstop a acceptable fig of children each month.

Postwar adoptions

The devastation of the Korean War successful the aboriginal 1950s led to overseas adoption programs for biracial Korean babies fathered by Western soldiers. This rapidly grew to "exporting the full-Korean infants" who were successful "abundant supply," according to interior Canadian authorities correspondence obtained by CBC.

The commission said the South Korean authorities had neglected its work to supply oversight and artifact "misconduct by adoption agencies" specified arsenic fraudulent orphan registrations, individuality tampering, and inadequate vetting of adoptive parents.

Adoption agencies did not person due consent for adoption, falsified documents to contiguous babies arsenic orphans erstwhile they had known parents, and erstwhile immoderate babies died earlier they were sent overseas, different babies were sent successful their names, the committee said.

"For astir 50 years pursuing the Korean War, the authorities prioritized intercountry adoption arsenic a cost-effective alternate to strengthening home kid payment policies," the committee said.

Investigating since 2020

The autarkic committee was acceptable up by a revised enactment of parliament successful 2020, with the ruling and absorption parties each naming 4 radical to marque up the 8 members sitting nether a chairperson named by the president.

The bureau of South Korea's acting president could not beryllium instantly reached for remark connected its report.

WATCH | The afloat National documentary connected Korean orphans:

Besides recommending an authoritative apology, the committee besides called for a broad survey connected adoptees' citizenship presumption and immoderate corresponding argumentation measures, remedies for victims whose identities were falsified, punctual ratification of the Hague Adoption Convention, and to guarantee a committedness from adoption agencies to reconstruct adoptees' rights.

"These violations should ne'er person occurred," said Park Sun-young, chairperson of the commission. "We indispensable travel together-adoptive countries and adoptees alike-to code the individuality crises galore adoptees face."