The Hankyoreh Article: “If We Verify Records from Receiving Countries, the Investigation into ‘Adoption as Human Trafficking’ Will Become More Comprehensive”.
View the original Korean Article here:
“If We Verify Records from Receiving Countries, the Investigation into ‘Adoption as Human Trafficking’ Will Become More Comprehensive” [Hello Truth Commission⑱]
English translation below via ChatGPT.
BOLDS ours.
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Paperslip Note:
The article notes that TRC 3 will improve the English application forms for overseas adoptees beginning on February 26th, 2026 — the day that TRC begins. Please note that TRC 3 has a 2 year application period, followed by a 2 year investigation period.
Please see related:
TRC 3 Announces The Opening Of Submissions: From February 26th, 2026—February 25th, 2028.
Preparation For Submission Of Materials To TRC 3.
Something IMPORTANT To Understand About The TRC 3 Process.
You Can Submit Your Case To TRC 3 Independently Of Any Other “Korean Rights” Group
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Important Takeaway:
TRC 3 has particular interest in US side documents. This is because the US was significantly under-represented in TRC 2, which was dominated by Danish applicants. This is why some Korean Adoptee led organizations which are promoting the submission of TRC 3 cases through their groups are recklessly encouraging US Adoptees to file FOIA requests right now — which we cannot more strongly recommend NOT doing in the current environment in the US. Please read our WARNINGS about the current FOIA process BEFORE you file a FOIA request!
Please note that we feel strongly that US Adoptees should take care to PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY during these times in the US! Please DO NOT share your sensitive, private adoption documents with strangers — even (or especially) if they are “fellow” Korean Adoptees!
If you decide to share your documents with anyone, please take care to FULLY REDACT information such as your A (Alien) Number, and other sensitive information on your adoption or other documents!
Please see related:
Important Links Related To Document Safety and Privacy
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Excerpt from article below: “She noted that overseas adoptees struggle even to understand the application form. An English version specifically designed for them is needed. Applications should also be accepted through overseas diplomatic missions, not only via the Commission’s website.
‘The Commission says it will improve the application forms for overseas adoptees starting on the 26th,’ she added.”
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Society / General
Hello Truth Commission⑱
Interview with Jeong Da-woon, Investigator, Overseas Adoption Team (Investigation Bureau 2, Division 7) — “Directly Communicated with About 300 Overseas Adoptee Victims”
By Ko Kyung-tae
Updated Feb. 19, 2026, 10:07 | Published Feb. 19, 2026, 07:00
“Hello” is both a greeting and a farewell.
After five years of activity as a past-truth investigative body, the second-term Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea (also known as the Truth Commission) disappeared into history on November 26 last year. The third-term Commission will launch on February 26.
“Hello Truth Commission,” a special series reflecting on the second term and looking ahead to the third, seeks out faces and voices that have not been properly illuminated. It shares the stories of those sincerely committed to investigating and uncovering historical injustices, along with their hopes and determination for the road ahead. Goodbye, Truth Commission! Hello, Truth Commission!
A mother’s baby was stolen immediately after birth. Newborns were “trafficked” the moment they entered the world.
Mother A wandered the village for months, crying like someone out of her mind. Neighbors whispered that she had gone insane. While her daughter-in-law was out, the mother-in-law completed the adoption process for the newborn. The reasons: poverty and the fact that the baby was a girl. By the time the mother learned the truth, her legal rights to the child had already disappeared. At first, she begged to be allowed to breastfeed the baby, even briefly. Her attempt to flee with the child failed. When the child later grew up and sought her out, she was already suffering from dementia.
Mother B lived her entire life believing she had delivered a stillborn baby. In reality, the child had been adopted. The truth was miraculously revealed decades later when the grown child searched for their biological parents.
Mother C gave birth in an institution and was unable to exercise any rights during the adoption process. Hidden behind heartwarming fairy-tale narratives—of escaping poverty to be raised by kind foreign adoptive parents—was a darker reality that is now coming to light. Victims are beginning to raise their voices.
On the 10th, at the offices of The Hankyoreh in Mapo, Seoul, I met Jeong Da-woon (39), an investigator in Division 7 (Overseas Adoption Team), Bureau 2 of the second-term Truth Commission, who directly communicated with around 300 overseas adoptee victims.
Because she studied and worked in the United States, Jeong was able to communicate without interpreters with adoptees who do not speak Korean. She listened to their harrowing stories in their rawest form, striving to reach the depths of their inner lives. She also developed a 13-page written statement form for victims to complete in advance, ensuring that no details were overlooked during interviews.
Jeong majored in criminal psychology and public policy at a university in New York and worked for seven years as an investigator in judicial and policy agencies under the U.S. State Department. Her cases mainly involved international human trafficking, prostitution, and sexual crimes. She built rapport with migrants involved in these cases and assisted with court testimony. She also proposed labor-permit policies for migrants and crime victims, provided free counseling to federal prisoners, and mentored local youth. In Korea, she spent a year working at a Seoul Metropolitan Government-affiliated policy institute on digital sex crime policy.
When she joined the Commission in February 2023, she was not initially assigned to overseas adoption cases because of her English skills; it was coincidental. But her experience investigating human trafficking in the U.S. proved invaluable in examining overseas adoption cases that, in essence, constituted “human trafficking.”
Jeong said she hopes the third-term Commission will assign more specialized personnel to overseas adoption investigations and conduct them systematically. She emphasized the need to consider that most victims cannot use their mother tongue.
During the second term, 367 overseas adoption cases were filed. Of these, 311 were suspended, and only 56 resulted in truth determinations. Considering that approximately 140,000 children were adopted abroad between the 1950s and 1999—and that applications in the second term were heavily concentrated among Danish adoptees (227 cases)—and that legal amendments have now included private adoption agencies within the scope of investigation, some predict a flood of applications in the third term.
On Communicating Directly with Applicants
“I met and communicated with about 300 applicants, including those who attended information sessions in Denmark and Korea, those who visited the Commission, and those who called from abroad.
In overseas adoption cases, language barriers directly affect access. Most applicants use English, and many felt frustrated because they could not fully understand administrative procedures or investigation progress. Domestic victims could follow news coverage, but adoptees abroad were unfamiliar with the Commission and had difficulty accessing information.
Watching this up close, I felt someone had to bridge that gap.”
On the Nature of the Cases
“Early on, I realized overseas adoption cases cannot be grouped into a single type. Each is highly individualized and complex. I worried that with limited English-speaking investigators, applicants’ statements might not be fully reflected.
So I developed a written statement form to systematically capture experiences of human rights violations, transfer routes, related facilities, documents held, and contact with biological family. Based on this, we secured records from adoption agencies and local governments in advance.
Records varied widely. Some included detailed medical files; others had institutional records. I repeatedly reviewed even single handwritten words to avoid missing anything, examining how past medical terminology might relate to applicants’ current health.
The second-term report focused on macro-level policy and institutional changes. In the future, I hope records from receiving countries will also be cross-verified for a more multidimensional investigation. That requires personnel skilled in both language and victim investigation.”
On Cross-Verification with Receiving Countries
“In the case of adoptees sent to Denmark, there were letters exchanged between Danish and Korean adoption agencies—documents in English and Danish discussing how many children could be ‘sent,’ almost like trading goods. We analyzed these for the report.
Denmark recorded 8,265 adoptions, but the U.S. received 93,009—more than ten times as many. Cooperation from the U.S., France, Sweden, and other receiving countries is essential. In the U.S., immigration records can be accessed through FOIA. Adoptee-related documents could likely be found as well.”
On Unforgettable Cases
One Danish adoptee discovered that her biological parents had been told she died prematurely at birth. Medical records later confirmed she had received treatment as a premature infant and was transferred from Gwangju to a Seoul adoption agency the same day all administrative procedures were completed—raising serious doubts about record credibility.
Another case involved a mother-in-law surrendering a child without the biological parents’ consent. The mother tried to reclaim her child and even attempted to flee multiple times. When the adoptee later reunited with her biological family as an adult, the mother had dementia.
In yet another case, a child recorded as “born in and admitted to a facility” was adopted immediately. The facility no longer existed. With municipal cooperation, investigators eventually located records identifying the biological mother and family. However, the case was suspended before further investigation could continue.
On Responsibility
“I don’t think responsibility lies with one individual or institution alone. Social stigma against mixed-race children, children of unmarried mothers, or children with disabilities; insufficient welfare budgets; adoption fees disguised as donations; ongoing overseas demand; falsified documents lacking legality; and institutions that permitted or ignored such practices—all of these structural factors operated together for decades.
No one stepped forward to take full responsibility, and the pain remained with adoptees.”
On the Character of Overseas Adoption
“Overseas adoption in 20th-century Korea was not simply a welfare policy or personal choice. It was a structural human rights violation combining state systems and social structures. Children who should have been protected were systematically separated under the justification that being ‘sent abroad’ was best.
It wasn’t just a child crossing borders—it determined the entire trajectory of a person’s life. That weight remains with adoptees today.”
On What the Third Term Should Do
“Investigations cannot yield results quickly. A structure for long-term trust-building and sustained communication with applicants is essential. One-off interviews are insufficient.
Investigators must be able to communicate in English and other languages and have international victim-investigation experience. Language gaps directly limit fact-finding and affect outcomes. This should be institutionally supported, not left to individual capacity.
Official cooperation with multiple receiving countries is also necessary to obtain cross-verifiable data. Domestic records alone leave too many gaps. The application process must also be reformed to be more accessible.”
She noted that overseas adoptees struggle even to understand the application form. An English version specifically designed for them is needed. Applications should also be accepted through overseas diplomatic missions, not only via the Commission’s website.
“The Commission says it will improve the application forms for overseas adoptees starting on the 26th,” she added.’”
By Ko Kyung-tae
k21@hani.co.kr