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41m ago

South Korea Ratifies Hague Adoption Pact as President Lee Issues Apology

New adoption laws enacted in July provide the framework to implement Hague safeguards with greater government responsibility.

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Overview

  • Lee Jae Myung apologized on Facebook for past failures to protect overseas adoptees and offered condolences to adoptees and birth families.
  • Ratification makes South Korea a contracting party to the Hague Convention 12 years after signing in 2013.
  • Official records note more than 170,000 children were sent abroad for adoption since the Korean War, with over 100 per year on average in the 2020s.
  • A Truth and Reconciliation Commission review found violations in 56 of 367 cases, including fabricated birth records and false reporting of children as orphans.
  • The Special Act on Domestic Adoption and the Special Act on Intercountry Adoption, enforced in July, establish the legal basis for Hague implementation as Lee urges ministries to coordinate and support family tracing.