A South Korean truth commission has revealed extensive malpractices by adoption agencies in the country's historical practice of sending children abroad. This announcement represents a pivotal moment for adoptees who have long sought acknowledgment and accountability for their experiences.
South Korea's Adoption Agencies Face Reckoning Over Decades of Malpractice
South Korea's Adoption Agencies Face Reckoning Over Decades of Malpractice
The South Korean government acknowledges widespread fraud in international adoptions, marking a significant step towards reconciling with adoptees.
South Korea's Truth and Reconciliation Commission made a landmark admission on Wednesday, revealing the widespread fraud and malpractices committed by adoption agencies during the country’s international adoption wave. For decades, South Korea was known as the world's largest supplier of intercountry adoptees, sending approximately 200,000 children mainly to the United States and Europe since the end of the Korean War in 1953.
The commission's findings detail how adoption agencies, driven by profit motives, falsified documents to represent children as orphans even when they had living parents. There were harrowing accounts of babies dying before their flights, only for other children to be sent in their stead. Additionally, leaders of four private adoption agencies were authorized to sign away legal guardianship of these children, showcasing a severe lack of oversight in the system.
The commission's report, which publicly acknowledges these malpractices for the first time, has been hailed as a significant victory by South Korean adoptees who have been advocating for the truth about their pasts for years. Many have returned to their homeland, demanding that the government confront this painful chapter of its history, which included a lack of a domestic welfare system in the aftermath of war.
In its recommendations, the commission has called for a formal apology from the South Korean government for the violation of adoptees' rights. Despite previous reports uncovering these issues, this is the first time the government has taken official responsibility. The adoption practices arose from South Korea's economic struggles and social issues post-war, leading to a reliance on international adoption as a solution instead of developing local child welfare services.
