Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (or Hague Adoption Convention).

Posted to Paperslip on July 30th, 2025.

Given that S. Korea recently ratified the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (alternately called the Hague Intercountry Adoption Convention or the Hague Adoption Convention) on June 17th, 2025 and that it will enter into force on October 1st, 2025, we figured it was about time to post something about this to Paperslip. Frankly this writer is no adoption policy wonk / expert — however the one major effect of S. Korea’s recent ratification of the Hague Adoption Convention with which we are well familiar is the centralization of ALL Korean Adoption Agency files under the central authority of the Korean Government Agency NCRC (National Center for the Rights of the Child), beginning July 19th, 2025. Of course, this has major consequences for adult Korean Adoptees around the world, whom are no longer able to make birth family search or document requests from their Korean Adoption Agencies AFTER July 19th, 2025.

AFTER July 19th, 2025, Korean Adoptees are now forced to make all future “Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure” (birth family search) requests through NCRC via the (long problematic) KAS website.

There are inevitably going to be MANY issues associated with the file transfer from ALL Korean Adoption Agencies to NCRC’s temporary storage facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do (starting July 19th, 2025) — AND with the SECOND file transfer from NCRC’s temporary storage facility to its (hopefully permanent) storage facility sometime in 2030.

Please see:

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)— Regarding The Movement Of ALL Korean Adoption Agency Files to NCRC (National Center for the Rights of the Child) Beginning July 19th, 2025

ALL Adoptees Start Here: General Birth Family Search Steps Through NCRC — Overview

IMPORTANT DATES

Address and Contact Info For Important Locations Related To Birth Family Search Through NCRC

While optimistically, S. Korea’s signing of the Hague Adoption Convention helps to protect the rights of future S. Korean Adoptees, it does nothing to address past grievances of adult intercountry Adoptees who still must contend with decades of falsification within their adoption files.

+

Below are some relevant links about the Hague Adoption Convention.

Hague Adoption Convention — Wikipedia

Hague Convention Text
HAGUE CONVENTION ON PROTECTION OF CHILDREN AND CO-OPERATION
IN RESPECT OF INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION

Regarding the centralization of all adoption files under one central authority (in the case of S. Korea, NCRC):

See Article 6:

”CHAPTER III – CENTRAL AUTHORITIES AND ACCREDITED BODIES

Article 6

(1) A Contracting State shall designate a Central Authority to discharge the duties which are imposed by the Convention upon such authorities

(2) Federal States, States with more than one system of law or States having autonomous territorial units shall be free to appoint more than one Central Authority and to specify the territorial or personal extent of their functions. Where a State has appointed more than one Central Authority, it shall designate the Central Authority to which any communication may be addressed for transmission to the appropriate Central Authority within that State.”

+

”The HCCH (Hague Conference on Private International Law – Conférence de La Haye de droit international privé) is an intergovernmental organisation the mandate of which is “the progressive unification of the rules of private international law” (Art. 1 of the Statute).”

www.hcch.net
https://www.hcch.net/en/about

HCCH Adoption Section:
https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/specialised-sections/intercountry-adoption

+

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea Press Release:

”Republic of Korea Deposits Instrument of Ratification for Hague Intercountry Adoption Convention”

”2025-06-17 (June 17th, 2025):

- Establishing a public adoption system in conformity with international norms, Korea’s ratification of the Hague Intercountry Adoption Convention will take effect on October 1, 2025 -

1. The government of the Republic of Korea today deposited its instrument of ratification for the Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (hereinafter the “Hague Intercountry Adoption Convention”) with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, which serves as the depositary of the Convention.

2. Originally adopted on May 29, 1993, at the 17th Session of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) and entering into force on May 1, 1995, the Hague Intercountry Adoption Convention sets out the requirements and procedures for intercountry adoption to ensure that such adoptions are carried out in the best interests of the child and with respect for his or her fundamental rights, and to prevent abduction, the sale of, or traffic in children. As of today, 106 countries—including Australia, China, and the United States—are contracting parties to the Convention.

3. Korea signed the Convention on May 24, 2013. Following the promulgation (July 18, 2023) and scheduled enforcement (July 19, 2025) of the Special Act on Domestic Adoption (a full revision of the former Act on Special Cases Concerning Adoption) and the newly enacted Special Act on Intercountry Adoption, which form the domestic legal basis for implementing the Convention, Korea has now proceeded to full ratification—over a decade after the initial signing.

※ In accordance with Article 46 of the Convention, it will enter into force in Korea on October 1, 2025 — the first day of the month following the expiration of three months after the deposit of the instrument of ratification.

4. Going forward, intercountry adoptions will be permitted only when no suitable family can be found in his or her State of origin, and only if deemed to serve the child’s best interests through deliberation by the Adoption Policy Committee under the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

5. As Korea’s designated Central Authority under the Convention, the Ministry of Health and Welfare will be responsible, in particular on the basis of the Committee’s deliberation, for:

Assessing the eligibility and suitability of prospective adoptive parents, and the adoptability of the child, determining whether the envisaged placement is in the best interests of the child in accordance with the Convention’s procedures, and coordinating with relevant Central Authorities in other contracting states.

6. The Convention’s provisions will apply not only to children under state care ("children in need of protection") but also to all forms of adoption involving cross-border placements, including stepparent adoption, adoption to foreign countries, and adoption into Korea.

7. Furthermore, under the Convention’s framework for the recognition of the Contracting Parties, adoptions legally concluded in Korea will be recognized in other contracting states, ensuring continuity of legal status for the child.

8. This ratification marks a significant step in establishing an advanced, internationally compliant intercountry adoption system in Korea, reinforcing the government’s commitment to upholding state responsibility across the entire adoption process and to safeguarding the rights of children. “