South Korea vows truth over forced overseas adoptions

President Lee Jae Myung pledged on Friday (August 7) to comprehensively investigate South Korea's history of coercive overseas adoptions, following a recent apology for the nation's state-sanctioned wrongdoing. The country once exported over 140,000 children abroad between 1955 and 1999, according to official records. The practice began after the Korean War, with children from stigmatized mixed-race births and infants of unmarried mothers being sent overseas.

This evolved into a lucrative industry, generating millions for adoption agencies during South Korea's economic boom in the 1970s and 1980s.

A Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2024 criticized the government for fabricating records and obtaining insufficient consent from birth parents, acknowledging responsibility in only 56 of 367 cases reviewed. This decision triggered outrage from adult adoptees and a fresh investigation, which commenced on July 21. President Lee addressed a gathering with probe officials and victims of other state-sanctioned violence, vowing to "fully uncover the truth" about the unexamined forced overseas adoption cases.

Activists pushing for investigations were predominantly adoptees, while birth parents were hesitant to speak due to the enduring stigma. Nevertheless, five South Korean birth mothers came forward in May, demanding an official probe, alleging their children were taken without consent. One mother claimed she was informed her daughter had died at birth, only to discover later that her child had been adopted in the United States.

In certain instances, alleged human rights abuses transpired during the adoption process, with the state failing to fully fulfill its obligations. President Lee expressed heartfelt remorse on behalf of the Republic of Korea.