Overview

• South Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded that the government facilitated a foreign adoption program marked by fraud, abuse, and identity falsifications.
• The investigation found local and foreign adoption agencies colluded to meet international demand, often substituting children’s identities and violating adoptees’ rights.
• The report highlights how economic pressures following the Korean War and inadequate legal frameworks enabled widespread violations over decades.
• Recommendations include an official government apology, addressing citizenship gaps for adoptees, and ratifying The Hague Adoption Convention.
• Adoptees criticized the findings as insufficient, arguing they failed to strongly establish government complicity or propose robust solutions.