The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a government agency, released its findings on Wednesday, concluding that human rights violations occurred throughout decades of overseas adoptions, says the Korea Times.
"It was determined that the state neglected its duty ... resulting in the violation of the human rights of adoptees protected by the constitution and international agreements during the process of sending a lot of children abroad," the commission stated, according to France24.
South Korea, an economic and cultural powerhouse, remains one of the largest sources of international adoptees, with more than 140,000 children sent abroad between 1955 and 1999.
The practice initially emerged post-Korean War as a way to remove mixed children born to American soldiers and Korean women, as the society valued homogeneity. By the 1970s and 1980s, adoption had become a lucrative industry, generating millions of dollars for international agencies.
The commission’s report highlighted that, in many cases, "fraudulent orphan registrations, identity tampering, and inadequate vetting of adoptive parents" took place. It found that South Korean birthparents often did not go through proper legal consent procedures before their children were sent abroad.
Additionally, the government failed to regulate adoption fees, allowing agencies to set their own prices and turning the system into a profit-driven business.
Some adoptees and birth parents have alleged that children were taken from poor neighborhoods without their families' knowledge and placed for adoption, with officials changing their identities to make them legally adoptable. Others claim authorities directed lost children into adoption rather than reuniting them with their families.
Despite regulations requiring verification of adoptive parents’ qualifications, the commission found that 99 percent of intercountry adoption approvals in 1984 were processed in a single day or the following day.
"These violations should never have occurred," Commission Chairperson Park Sun-young said. "This is a shameful part of our history."
For years, adoptees have sought answers, many claiming their birth parents were coerced into giving them up.
A notable case is that of Adam Crapser, who was deported to South Korea as an adult after his adoptive parents in the United States failed to secure his citizenship.
The commission has so far verified human rights violations in 56 out of 367 complaints, despite the difficulty of processing such a large volume of cases. It pledged to review as many remaining cases as possible before its mandate expires in May.
