SEOUL: South Korea will launch a major reform of its adoption system, ending decades of private agency control following revelations of widespread abuse and fraud in international adoptions.
Beginning today, the state and local governments will assume full responsibility for every step of the adoption process, including parent screening and child placement, under a newly restructured public system.
This overhaul follows a landmark investigation by a state-established truth commission, which found that between 1955 and 1999 – when over 140,000 South Korean children were sent abroad – many adoptions involved serious irregularities.
These included fake orphan records, identity tampering, and poor vetting of adoptive families.
The commission criticised the government for allowing unregulated adoption fees that turned the process into a profit-driven industry and called for an official apology.
International adoption in South Korea began after the Korean War, initially targeting mixed-race children born to Korean women and American soldiers.
By the 1970s and 80s, it had become a lucrative business amid South Korea’s rapid economic rise.
Under the new system, adoption decisions will now be made by a government committee based on the “best interests of the child”, a role previously held by private agencies with minimal oversight.
Health ministry officials say the reform is a crucial step toward safeguarding adopted children’s rights.
However, adoptee activists argue it is only a first step.
Swedish Korean writer, Lisa Wool-Rim Sjoblom, said merely replacing agencies with state control is not enough.
She urged the government to acknowledge past abuses, issue a formal apology, and support the tens of thousands of adoptees sent overseas.
Reparations and full accountability, she stressed, are urgently needed. – AFP
