Truth Commission Reveals Decades of Fraud and Human Rights Violations.
Seoul, South Korea, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has formally apologised for decades of abuses in the country’s foreign adoption program, which involved widespread fraud and violations of human rights against children and their families.
In an official statement, the president said: “I offer my sincere condolences and heartfelt sympathy to adoptees sent abroad, their birth families, and adoptive parents, for the injustices and pain caused by this system.”
The president pledged that the government will take steps to better protect children’s rights and support efforts to reconnect adoptees with their biological families wherever possible. In July, South Korea also ratified the Hague Adoption Convention to ensure more transparent and accountable adoption practices.
It is estimated that from the aftermath of the Korean War through to 1999, between 30,000 and 140,000 children were sent abroad for adoption. Investigations revealed that much of this was done through fraudulent practices aimed at reducing the country’s social welfare burden.