South Korea vows to end foreign adoptions as UN presses Seoul to address past abuses

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s government has said it plans to end the adoption of Korean children by foreigners, while United Nations investigators expressed “serious concerns” about what they described as Seoul’s failure to find the facts and provide compensation for the children. widespread human rights violations dependent on decades of mass overseas adoptions.

The announcement on Friday came just hours after the United Nations human rights office said. South Korea’s response to researchers Urging Seoul to announce concrete plans To address the grievances of adoptees who were sent abroad with false registrations or abused by foreign parents.

Even during the period facing South Korea, the issue was rarely discussed at the UN level. increasing pressure Confronting the widespread fraud and abuse that hobbled the adoption program, especially during the boom in the 1970s and 1980s when it sent thousands of children to the West each year.

The country will tighten welfare policies for children in need of care, phasing out foreign adoptions over a five-year period, aiming to reach zero by 2029 at the latest, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Lee Seuran said during a briefing.

South Korea has reduced the number of foreign adoptions to 24 in 2025, from around 2,000 in 2005 and an annual average of more than 6,000 in the 1980s.

In the health ministry’s briefing and response to the UN, officials focused on future improvements rather than past problems.

“Adoptions were previously handled mostly by private adoption agencies, and while they likely prioritize the best interests of the child, there may be other conflicting interests,” Lee said.

“Now that the adoption system has been restructured into a public framework, and with the Department of Health and the government having a greater role in the process of approving adoptions, we have the opportunity to re-evaluate whether international adoption is truly a necessary option.” he added, referring to efforts to encourage domestic adoptions.

UN calls on Seoul to propose stronger solutions

UN investigators, including special rapporteurs on human trafficking, forced or involuntary disappearances and child abuse, raised the adoption issue after months of communication with Seoul. Yooree Kim. The 52-year-old man was sent to live with a French family in 1984 without his biological parents’ permission, based on documents describing him as an abandoned orphan.

Kim said she suffered severe physical and sexual abuse from her adopters and petitioned the UN as part of a broader effort. seek responsibility From governments and adoption agencies in South Korea and France.

Citing broader systemic problems and Kim’s case, U.N. investigators criticized South Korea for failing to provide adoptees with effective access to remedies for serious abuses and for “the likely denial of their right to know the truth, compensation, and remembrance.”

They also expressed concern over the government suspension fact-finding investigation It concerns past adoption abuses and fraud, despite reports of serious violations, including cases that amounted to enforced disappearances.

In response, South Korea has highlighted past reforms focused on preventing abuse, including a 2011 law that restored judicial oversight of foreign adoptions, ending decades of oversight by private institutions and leading to a significant decline in international placements.

South Korea also cited the recent steps taken as an example: centralize adoption authority.

But the government said further adoption investigations and stronger compensation for victims would depend on future legislation. It offered no new measures to address the massive backlog of inaccurate or falsified records that prevent many adoptees from reconnecting with their birth families or learning the truth about their origins.

Human rights lawyer Choi Jung Kyu, who represents Kim, called South Korea’s response “sloppy.” Promises of stronger compensation aimed at reducing the need for victims to file lawsuits were not explicitly stated in the bills proposing its reintroduction, he noted. Truth and Reconciliation Commission Investigating past human rights violations.

The government also vetoed a bill in April that would have lifted the statute of limitations on state-related human rights violations; but this was also true before. President Lee Jae Myung He took office in June. Lee issued an apology in October for his past adoption issues, following the recommendation of the Truth Commission.

Choi, who represents several plaintiffs suing the government for human rights violations under past dictatorships, said authorities often face lengthy legal battles if they dismiss truth commission findings as inconclusive or argue that the statute of limitations has expired.

Pressure grows to solve adoption problems

Kim, who could not immediately be reached for comment, filed a rare petition for compensation with the South Korean government in August, stating that at the time of his adoption, authorities incorrectly documented him as an orphan even though he had a family.

Following a nearly three-year investigation into complaints from 367 adoptees in Europe, the United States and Australia, the Truth Commission in March recognized Kim and 55 other adoptees as victims of human rights abuses, including false child origins, missing records and child protection failures.

This was weeks before the commission halted its adoption investigation after internal disagreements among commissioners over which cases should be recognized as problematic. The fate of the remaining 311 cases, which have been postponed or incompletely investigated, depends on whether lawmakers establish a new truth commission through legislation.

The commission’s findings acknowledged state responsibility for facilitating a foreign adoption program rife with fraud and abuse. The program was driven by efforts to reduce welfare costs and was enabled by private organizations that often manipulated children’s backgrounds and origins. The findings were broadly consistent with previous reports from The Associated Press.

AP investigation, in collaboration with Frontline (PBS)It detailed how the South Korean government, Western countries and adoption agencies worked together to send nearly 200,000 Korean children overseas despite evidence that many were obtained through dubious or unscrupulous means.

Seoul’s past military governments passed special laws encouraging foreign adoption, removing judicial oversight and giving broad powers to private institutions, bypassing proper child relinquishment procedures while sending thousands of children abroad each year.

western countries It has largely ignored the abuses and sometimes pressured South Korea to maintain supplies to meet high demand for dolls.