Kyunghyang Shinmun [Exclusive]: “Government Agencies Offer Only Verbal Promises of ‘Action’ After Truth Commission Recommends Apologies and Restitution, Submitting Halfhearted Implementation Plans.”
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Paperslip Note:
Many Korean Adoptees who attended the recent IKAA (International Korean Adoptee Associations) conference in Seoul expressed that they felt offended by being used as flag waving public relations (PR) props during the S. Korean First Lady’s visit to IKAA’s Opening Ceremony. Indeed, very shortly after the first lady left the conference — after five minutes of group photos with Adoptees — multiple news reports appeared in S. Korean press, featuring the First Lady surrounded by smiling, flag waving Adoptees. This is great PR for S. Korea, but what does this actually mean for Korean Adoptees in terms of the change we want to see?
Korean Adoptees received no apology nor any meaningful promises, and only a warm welcome during the First Lady’s visit to IKAA’s Opening Ceremony. This was very nice, but also fairly meaningless as regards the change which many Korean Adoptees are desperate to see happen with respect to S. Korea’s support of our many issues.
In light of these circumstances and with respect to the article below, many Korean Adoptees who have been around long enough to recognize how much harder it is to secure meaningful action from the S. Korean government than to obtain PR visits from S. Korean dignitaries at Adoptee events privately feel that the TRC serves the S. Korean government more than it serves Adoptees.
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Kyunghyang Shinmun:
“[Exclusive] Government Agencies Offer Only Verbal Promises of “Action” After Truth Commission Recommends Apologies and Restitution, Submitting Halfhearted Implementation Plans.”
Original Korean article posted on October 23rd, 2026.
ChatGPT translation posted to Paperslip on October 25th, 2026.
Please see original Korean article for photos.
BOLDS and blue highlighting ours.
We may have added some information in parentheses ( ) for clarity.
Thanks to a Paperslip Contributor for the link.
Reporter: Kim Eunsong
Published: October 23, 2026, 6:00 a.m.
Updated: October 23, 2026, 6:06 a.m.
“President Lee Jae-myung delivers remarks at a luncheon held on August 7 at the Blue House guesthouse to console victims of state violence, marking the launch of the third term of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Yonhap News
Government ministries and agencies that received recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to apologize to victims of state violence and support their recovery have submitted implementation plans consisting of little more than vague statements such as “we will pursue the recommendations,” it has emerged. Critics say the plans are inadequate and need improvement, particularly because the government approved all of them as originally submitted without meaningful review.
According to a document titled “Implementation Plans for Recommendations by the Second Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Their Review Status,” obtained from the Office for Government Policy Coordination by Yang Bu-nam, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker serving on the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee, 14 government agencies—including the Ministry of National Defense and the National Police Agency—submitted a total of 6,069 implementation plans to a review committee under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. The plans concern recommendations to apologize for past human rights abuses and other historical injustices, including state violence, and to provide remedies for victims.
Implementation plans are supposed to translate the commission’s recommendations into concrete measures. However, some agencies were found to have submitted only vague statements promising future discussions or reviews.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS), for example, stated that it would “discuss and pursue specific implementation timelines, methods, and procedures” in response to a recommendation to remedy harm and restore the reputations of victims in a human rights abuse case involving the illegal detention of labor organization officials by its predecessor, the Korean Central Intelligence Agency.
The NIS used the same wording in its implementation plan for recommendations to apologize and take reconciliation measures in cases involving human rights violations, including violations of the National Security Act.
In response to a recommendation to apologize for the killing of civilians in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province, by the military and police, the Ministry of National Defense stated that it would “review and pursue the matter, including determining who should apologize, when, and how.” Regarding a recommendation to provide remedies for victims, the ministry said it would “proceed through consultations with relevant ministries once legislation is enacted by the National Assembly.”
The ministry included the same statements in its implementation plan for recommendations concerning the National Bodo League and preventive detention cases in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province.
In some cases, agencies did not specify their own implementation plans at all, citing ongoing litigation.
In response to recommendations to apologize and remedy harm and restore the reputations of victims in a case involving human rights violations by police under emergency martial law in 1980, the National Police Agency stated that it would “determine its implementation plan after the outcome of the ongoing state compensation lawsuit.”
In its implementation plan concerning recommendations to remedy harm and restore the reputations of victims in a case involving illegal detention and police brutality, the agency merely noted that related litigation was still underway.
Implementation plans submitted by the Ministry of National Defense, the National Intelligence Service, and other agencies in response to recommendations by the second Truth and Reconciliation Commission state that the timing and methods of apologies will be reviewed or discussed at a later date. Provided by the office of lawmaker Yang Bu-nam.
These implementation plans were submitted to a review committee under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, which approved every plan without modification.
The committee held seven meetings between September 2023 and July of this year, all of which were conducted in writing rather than in person.
Under the Act on the Settlement of Past Incidents for Truth and Reconciliation, government agencies receiving recommendations from the commission must submit implementation plans to the government ministry responsible for overseeing and reviewing them within three months after the recommendations are reported to the president and the National Assembly.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety had been responsible for coordinating this work. Following an amendment to the law, however, responsibility was transferred in August to an implementation oversight unit under the Office for Government Policy Coordination.
Lawmaker Yang Bu-nam said, “If government agencies submit inadequate implementation plans that do not even specify concrete timelines or methods, and the review committee simply approves them as submitted, then nothing will change even if the committee is elevated to the prime minister’s office.”
He added, “Inadequate implementation plans should be sent back for revision and supplementation. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s recommendations must lead to genuine apologies and meaningful remedies for victims.”
An official from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission said, “Each ministry and local government should meet with victims, listen to what measures they need, and develop implementation plans tailored to those needs.”
An official from the Office for Government Policy Coordination said, “Implementation plans must be submitted within three months, but when a matter requires legislative amendments or other legal changes, it is difficult to produce a detailed plan within that period.”
The official added, “We will continue to monitor and supervise plans that have already been reviewed, and consider ways to make future plans more specific during subsequent reviews.”’