SOUTH KOREA ENDS PRIVATE ADOPTION SYSTEM AFTER DAMNING REPORT ON RIGHTS ABUSES
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By Aishat Momoh. O.
South Korea is set to overhaul its decades-old adoption system on Saturday by officially ending the use of private adoption agencies a historic policy shift triggered by widespread reports of abuse, fraud, and human rights violations.
The country’s Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that a fully public adoption framework will now be in place, with the state and local governments assuming complete control over all adoption processes, including the vetting of adoptive parents and child placements.
“This is a significant step towards ensuring the safety and promoting the rights of adopted children,” the ministry said in a statement.
The reform comes months after a state-established truth commission concluded that South Korea’s international adoption programme which sent over 140,000 children overseas between 1955 and 1999 was rife with misconduct. The investigation found numerous instances of fraudulent orphan registrations, identity falsifications, and inadequate oversight of adoptive families.
The commission’s findings revealed that many children were put up for adoption without proper legal consent from their birth parents, with some families losing their children entirely. The commission described the practice as a “shameful part” of the nation’s history and urged the government to issue a formal apology and offer reparations.
South Korea’s adoption industry gained momentum after the Korean War, originally as a way to remove mixed-race children from a society deeply rooted in ethnic purity. It later became a lucrative enterprise, especially in the 1970s and 1980s, generating millions of dollars through international placements.
Until now, major private agencies carried out most of the adoption procedures with little state supervision. Under the restructured system, a committee within the Ministry of Health and Welfare will oversee critical decisions in line with the “best interests of the child.”
Kim Sang-hee, director of population and child policy at the ministry, said, “With this restructuring of the public adoption system, the state now takes full responsibility for ensuring the safety and rights of all adopted children.”
However, adoptee rights activists say the reform is only the beginning. Lisa Wool-Rim Sjoblom, a Korean adoptee raised in Sweden, described the move as overdue but inadequate.
“While I think it’s high time that Korea closes down all private adoption agencies, I don’t believe state-run adoption alone is enough,” she said. Sjoblom urged the government to go further by fully implementing the truth commission’s recommendations, acknowledging the systemic violations, and offering official reparations to the thousands affected.
The overhaul marks a pivotal moment in South Korea’s reckoning with its adoption history and signals a renewed focus on child welfare, transparency, and justice.
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