News Nate / Segye Ilbo Article:
“Budget Shortfall Raises Concerns That ‘Adoption Information Disclosure’ Will Be Left Incomplete”.
Posted to Paperslip on May 5th, 2025.
Translation via ChatGPT.
Some bolds and red highlighting ours.
*IMPORTANT Paperslip Note:
What this article is saying is that while the Korean Government HAS allocated funds for the transfer of ALL Korean Adoption Agency files to NCRC (National Center for the Rights of the Child) beginning July 19th, 2025—that the Korean Government has NOT allocated funding for the preservation of files from “child welfare facilities”. Please see our links below which describe what qualifies as a “child welfare facility”:
Article 52 (Types of Child Welfare Facilities)
We think that “Child Welfare Facilities” are different than what we refer to as “feeder orphanages”.
For example, we have compiled a list of the major “feeder orphanages” which supplied children to KSS (Korea Social Service) here:
Sources of KSS Orphans + Orphanage List
*Please note that KSS (Korea Social Service) was just one of the 4 major Korean Adoption Agencies, and was the SMALLEST of them.
*Please note that many “feeder orphanages” supplied children for overseas adoption to many of the major Korean Adoption Agencies—not just to KSS. However, each orphanage likely had a different list of Korean Adoption Agency “clientele”.
Many children were housed long-term in such “feeder orphanges” prior to being physically transferred to one of the 4 major Korean Adoption Agencies, prior to their being sent overseas for adoption.
What the article is essentially saying is that, because the Korean Governnment has NOT allocated funding for the preservation of files from “child welfare facilities”, that Adoptees will NOT (at least, as of now) have access to their COMPLETE background information from ALL relevant institutions in Korea which played a role in their adoptions.
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RELATED:
Article 52 of the Child Welfare Act defines “Types of Child Welfare Facilities”:
Article 52 (Types of Child Welfare Facilities) (1) The types of child welfare facilities shall be as follows: <Amended by Act No. 14085, Mar. 22, 2016; Act No. 14925, Oct. 24, 2017>
1. Child rearing facilities: Facilities aiming at protecting and rearing children subject to protection and at providing such children with employment training, self-reliance support service, etc., by admitting the children in such facilities;
2. Temporary protection facilities for children: Facilities aiming at temporarily protecting children subject to protection, at formulating plans for future rearing, and at taking protective measures for such children;
3. Protection and treatment facilities for children: Facilities protecting children and providing them with medical treatment as follows:
(a) Facilities aiming at admitting children who indulge in delinquent acts or are likely to commit such acts, and who has no any protector, or for whom a person with parental authority or a protector has filed an application for such facilities, or who are entrusted as persons under the age of 19 for protection by the Court of Family Affairs, a district court, and a juvenile branch court to foster them as the sound members of society through provision of medical treatment and guidance into the right path;
(b) Facilities aiming at providing protection and medical treatment to children having difficulty due to emotional or behavioral disorder or children requiring medical treatment by being temporarily isolated from their parents' abuse;
4. Communal homes: Facilities aiming at providing children subject to protection with a family-like residential condition, protection, rearing and self-reliance support service;
5. Facilities supporting for self-reliance: Facilities aiming at supporting the self-reliance of persons who are discharged from a child welfare facility by protecting them during a period for employment preparation or during a certain period after employment;
6. Child counsel centers: Facilities aiming at providing counseling, medical treatment, prevention, and research, etc., concerning the problems of children and their families;
7. Exclusive facilities for children: Facilities aiming at providing services necessary for maintaining physical and mental health and improving welfare by providing sound play, recreations, and other various conveniences, including children’s parks, children’s playgrounds, children’s halls, facilities for sports, drama, cinema, and scientific experiment display, children’s resting and lodging places, campgrounds, etc.;
8. Regional centers for children: Facilities aiming at providing comprehensive child welfare services to foster children in healthy conditions, including protection and education of children in the community, provision of sound play and recreations for them, and establishment of a linkage between their protectors and the community;
9. Specialized child protection agencies;
10. Foster care support centers provided for by Article 48.
(2) A child welfare facility provided for by paragraph (1) may be established in an integrated form.
(3) A child welfare facility provided for by paragraph (1) may implement the following services additionally in so far as each facility does not impair services for its unique purposes and meets the standards for installation and operation of each facility:
1. Services to support children’s families: Services to provide children, families and community residents with counseling, advice, and information for the sound development of children in the community;
2. Services for daytime child protection: Services to ensure the sound growth of children through individual protection and education for children who are unable to obtain any protection at home during daytime due to extenuating grounds;
3. Specialized counsel service for children: Services to provide children unadapted to school, etc., with counseling and medical treatment for forming sound personality, and to take measures for prevention of school violences;
4. Protection services for abused children: Services to identify, protect, and treat abused children and to prevent child abuse, in a specialized way;
5. Services of communal homes: Services aiming at providing children subject to protection with family-like residential conditions and protection;
6. After-school guidance service for children: Services aiming at forming the sound personality of children from low-income families through individual protection and education after school.
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Related:
NCRC spent 10 years BADLY “digitizing” files from the following Orphanages:
NCRC / KAS List of Facilities/Institutions whose records have been preserved(scanned)
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News Nate / Segye Ilbo Article:
“Budget Shortfall Raises Concerns That ‘Adoption Information Disclosure’ Will Be Left Incomplete”:
“[Exclusive] Budget Shortfall Raises Concerns That ‘Adoption Information Disclosure’ Will Be Left Incomplete
Segye Ilbo | Original article sent: May 5, 2025, 21:19 | Last updated: May 6, 2025, 07:25
Public adoption system reform begins July 19th, 2025.
Despite calls to increase the budget by 2.7 billion KRW during the supplementary budget review, no funds were allocated — just like in 2024.
Challenges ahead for transferring and managing adoption records to the Ministry of Health and Welfare
Support for local government guardianship system also stalled.
"Sufficient support needed to ensure adoptees can easily access their information."
During a recent National Assembly review of the supplementary budget, a proposal was made to increase funding by about 2.7 billion KRW for the reform of the public adoption system. However, the revised supplementary budget, which passed the plenary session on May 1, included none of this funding. A similar increase was suggested during the preliminary review of the 2025 national budget late last year, but it was also excluded at that time.
With less than two and a half months remaining before the public adoption system is restructured, significant challenges due to budget constraints are anticipated. Starting in July (2025), the responsibility for disclosing adoption information will be centralized under government agencies. Yet, there is currently no budget to obtain original adoption records from child welfare facilities — where children stayed before being adopted — other than the four major adoption agencies (Holt Children's Services, Eastern Social Welfare Society, Korea Social Welfare Society, and Korea Welfare Services). With over 2,000 requests for information disclosure from overseas adoptees each year, the system risks providing only “incomplete” information.
Until now, the adoption system has been operated privately. Starting July 19, the Special Adoption Act (domestic) and the Intercountry Adoption Act will go into effect, shifting responsibility to the national and local governments.
According to the National Assembly on the 5th, documents from the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts’ subcommittee (held April 30 and May 1) show a proposal to increase the budget for the “Adoption Rights Protection Agency operational support project” by 1.39 billion KRW. This includes:
740 million KRW for a survey and preservation of adoption records, and
650 million KRW to transfer original adoption records targeted for digitization.
The Adoption Rights Protection Agency (NCRC / National Center for the Rights of the Child), an institution under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, will be in charge of both domestic and international adoption services after the reform. Managing the original records currently held by private agencies and providing information disclosure services is also part of its responsibilities. According to the Special Adoption Act, child welfare facilities that cared for children before their adoption must transfer any original records in their possession to the Adoption Rights Protection Agency by the July 19th, 2025 implementation date.
While the agency has secured funding in the 2025 national budget to survey and transfer records from the four major adoption agencies, it has not done so for the child welfare facilities.
Professor Noh Hye-ryeon, emeritus professor of social welfare at Soongsil University, commented, “To adoptees, every piece of information, no matter how small, is incredibly valuable. Budget and support must be sufficient to ensure adoptees can also easily access records left in the child welfare facilities where they stayed before adoption.” Despite such concerns, the supplementary budget review ultimately did not reflect these needs.
Additionally, there was a proposed increase of 1.391 billion KRW for the “Public Adoption System Management and Operation Project”, which included a new item completely omitted from the 2025 national budget:
695 million KRW to support local governments in building and running an integrated support system for child adoption.
This is meant to assist local governments, which will take on the role of legal guardians before a child is adopted, with staff allowances and project funds. However, this too was excluded from the supplementary budget, effectively canceling the support.