South Korea admits to 'mass export' of children for adoption, at least 170,000 sent abroad
Recently, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Korea released a major report after two years of investigation, revealing that the South Korean government has condoned the systematic trafficking of children by private institutions in the name of transnational adoption for decades.
△Park Sun-young (left), chairperson of South Korea's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, comforts an emotional adoptee at a press conference.
Investigations show that between the 1960s and 1990s, at least 170,000 Korean children were sent to Europe and the United States, and the operating chain behind it was full of shady dealings such as forged documents, illegal charges, and identity tampering.
The report pointed out that under the protection of special legislation, more than 300 private adoption agencies have turned child trafficking into a "highly profitable industry."
The agency "produces" children for adoption on demand every month, circumvents supervision by forging "abandonment certificates" and fabricating children's identities, and even requires adoptive families to pay high "donation fees." Due to widespread document fraud, many adoptees are now in a dilemma of having no way to find their parents.
"This is essentially child trafficking condoned by the government," committee chairperson Park Sun-young said at the press conference.
The survey showed that 52% of adoption files contained forged birth certificates, and 34% of cases involved mothers being forced to sign documents. In 1968, an agency even tampered with the identity of a 3-year-old child to a "17-year-old orphan" to circumvent the adoption age limit.
The trauma caused by the system continues. Kim Mi-sun, 48, complained to the media that her Dutch adoptive parents "treated the dog more attentively than me."
The 56 cases of violations confirmed by the investigation included adoptees suffering from domestic violence, forced labor, sexual abuse, etc.
The report recommends that the South Korean government should formally apologize for this "institutional history of crime" and establish a traceability mechanism for transnational adoptions.