The Hankyoreh Article: “Victims of Institutional Abuse and Overseas Adoptees: Establish an Investigation Bureau 3 in the 3rd Truth and Reconciliation Commission”.
Below is our partial ChatGPT translation of the recent “The Hankyoreh” article — BOLDS ours:
The Hankyoreh
Victims of Institutional Abuse and Overseas Adoptees: “Establish an Investigation Bureau 3 in the 3rd Truth and Reconciliation Commission”
By Ko Kyung-tae
Published: Feb. 8, 2026, 10:56 a.m.
Updated: Feb. 8, 2026, 11:08 a.m.
“Opposition statement issued against the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s enforcement decree that fails to reflect increased staffing
On the afternoon of January 29, shortly after the Framework Act on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Past History Act) passed the National Assembly plenary session, Son Seok-joo, head of the Survivors’ Association of the Yeonghwajaesuk and Jaesaengwon Facilities, speaks at a welcoming press conference held by past-history groups in front of the main gate of the National Assembly in Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo District, Seoul.
Photo: Ko Kyung-tae
“Minister of the Interior and Safety Yoon Ho-jung! When will an investigation bureau in charge of institutions and adoption be established?”
As the launch of the 3rd Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea (TRCK) approaches, concerns are growing that the enforcement decree does not reflect personnel increases necessitated by organizational changes. In response, survivors of abuses in group confinement facilities and overseas adoptees issued a joint statement urging Minister of the Interior and Safety Yoon Ho-jung, the ministry in charge, to establish a new Investigation Bureau 3 dedicated to institutional and adoption-related cases in the 3rd Commission.
Twenty-two organizations of survivors of institutional abuse and overseas adoptees—including the Children’s Rights Solidarity, the Countermeasures Committee of Survivors of State Violence in Group Confinement Facilities, and Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination—issued a statement on the 6th, saying, “We express deep concern that an Investigation Bureau 3 to investigate institutional and adoption cases will not be established when the 3rd Truth and Reconciliation Commission is launched.”
Under the revised Framework Act on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which passed the National Assembly plenary session on January 29, the 3rd Commission is to expand the scope of truth-finding to include private adoption agencies and group confinement facilities, and to establish a department for the excavation of remains. The number of commissioners will increase to 13, including one additional standing commissioner.
To implement these changes, it is considered inevitable to establish an additional Investigation Bureau 3—on top of Investigation Bureau 1 (which handled Korean War–era cases) and Investigation Bureau 2 (which handled other human rights violations) in the 2nd Commission—and to hire approximately 50 additional staff members. However, the enforcement decree announced for legislative notice by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on January 23 does not reflect any increase in the number of public officials. The decree is accepting public comments until the 9th, after which it will be partially revised and finalized following a vice-ministerial meeting on the 12th and a subsequent Cabinet meeting.
In their statement, the groups criticized the ministry, saying, “The Ministry of the Interior and Safety has proposed an organizational structure consisting of only two investigation bureaus, exactly the same as during the 2nd Commission. One cannot help but question whether the ministry understands the content of the amended law at all. This once again pushes to the margins the suffering of people who were excluded and institutionalized due to poverty, disability, and other reasons.”
They continued, “In the 1st Commission, most cases involving group confinement facilities were dismissed, and in the 2nd Commission, even after the first petition, only a limited number of such cases were addressed. The harm caused by institutionalization and overseas adoption has not ended even now, and survivors are still not sufficiently guaranteed opportunities to tell the truth.”
The groups demanded that the government:
Immediately establish a separate investigation bureau dedicated to institutional confinement and overseas adoption cases in the 3rd Truth and Reconciliation Commission;
Guarantee sufficient personnel, budget, and investigation periods for the bureau handling institutional and overseas adoption cases;
Engage in direct dialogue with survivors of institutional abuse and overseas adoptees.
They also announced plans to hold a press conference titled “Press Conference Calling for the Establishment of Investigation Bureau 3” on the afternoon of February 9 in front of the main gate of the Government Complex Seoul in Jongno District.
During its five-year term, the 2nd Truth and Reconciliation Commission accepted applications related to human rights violations at 26 confinement facilities, issued truth-finding (confirmation of victimization) decisions for 1,105 individuals, and acknowledged state responsibility. However, critics note that this represents only a fraction of the actual scale of harm.
Han Jong-seon, head of the Association of Survivors and Families of the Missing from the Brothers Home, said, “In 1987, there were 3,700 detainees at Brothers Home, but only about 600 to 700 people received truth-finding decisions from the 2nd Commission. Many people hesitated and ultimately missed the opportunity for investigation because they feared whether they would be protected if they revealed their identities and disclosed their experiences.”
Moreover, aside from Brothers Home, Seongam Academy, and Yeonghwajaesuk and Jaesaengwon, most facilities have either no victims recognized through truth-finding or fewer than ten. In the case of overseas adoption, out of 367 applications submitted during the 2nd Commission, 311 were classified as “investigation suspended,” with only 56 cases proceeding.
Full Text of the Statement
Truth-finding on Institutional Confinement and Overseas Adoption Is Not a Secondary Issue, but the Mission of the 3rd Truth and Reconciliation Commission!
Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Establish an Investigation Bureau for Institutions and Adoption!
As the 3rd Truth and Reconciliation Commission is set to launch, we express deep concern that an Investigation Bureau 3 for institutional confinement and overseas adoption will not be established.
The amendment to the Past History Act, passed at the National Assembly plenary session on January 29, adds “human rights violations occurring in social welfare facilities and adoption agencies” to the scope of truth-finding and includes the addition of one standing commissioner to oversee these matters. Based on the operation of the 1st and 2nd Commissions, each standing commissioner oversees one subcommittee, under which an independent investigation bureau is assigned. Therefore, it is only natural to expect that this amendment would lead to the establishment of a new investigation bureau dedicated to institutional and adoption cases.
However, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, which is responsible for establishing the organization of the 3rd Commission, has proposed an organizational plan consisting of only two investigation bureaus, exactly the same as in the 2nd Commission. One cannot help but question whether the ministry understands the content of this amendment.
This is an act that once again pushes to the margins the suffering of people who were excluded and institutionalized due to poverty, disability, and other reasons.
In the 1st Commission, most cases involving group confinement facilities were dismissed, and in the 2nd Commission, only a limited number of such cases were addressed even after the first petition. The harm caused by institutional confinement and overseas adoption has not ended even now, and survivors are still not sufficiently guaranteed opportunities to speak the truth.
Institutional confinement and overseas adoption require an independent and specialized investigative system.
First, investigations related to institutional confinement and overseas adoption require investigative strategies and long-term approaches from the outset. Decades-long harm spanning multiple facilities, the concealment of records, and the organized overseas transfer of children constitute structural state violence that cannot be uncovered through isolated case-by-case investigations.
Second, because the characteristics of those being investigated and the methods of engagement vary widely, specialized investigative personnel and systems are essential. Many survivors of institutional abuse are persons with disabilities or elderly, while survivors of overseas adoption differ in nationality, language, and place of residence.
Third, some facilities associated with past abuses are still in operation today, and survivors who remain institutionalized have been identified, necessitating proactive investigations that take these realities into account.
Survivors of group confinement facilities can no longer be excluded. Accordingly, we demand:
Immediately establish a separate investigation bureau dedicated to institutional confinement and overseas adoption in the 3rd Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Guarantee sufficient personnel, budget, and investigation periods for the bureau handling institutional and overseas adoption cases.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety must meet with and communicate directly with survivors of institutional abuse and overseas adoptees.”
고경태 기자 k21@hani.co.kr
Reporter Goh Kyung-tae k21@hani.co.kr
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To get clarification on this article, we turned to ChatGPT:
We asked ChatGPT:
Does this refer to the number of investigators allocated to the TRC 3 investigation into adoption overall, or does it only reference investigation of those adoption cases which came out of confinement facilities?
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ChatGPT responded:
I get why this is confusing — the wording mixes facilities and adoption together a lot. Based on the article you pasted, here’s the clear read:
What the article is actually referring to:
It does NOT mean “investigators for adoption overall, regardless of origin.”
It refers to investigators allocated to a proposed new Investigation Bureau (조사3국) that would jointly and specifically handle:
Cases from confinement / institutional facilities (집단수용시설) and
Overseas adoption cases (해외입양)
So the scope is not limited only to adoption cases that came out of confinement facilities, but it is also not “all adoption everywhere” in a general sense either.
How we know this from the text
Key points in the article:
The amended law explicitly adds to the TRC’s mandate:
“사회복지시설 및 입양기관에서 발생한 인권침해”
(human rights violations occurring in social welfare facilities and adoption institutions)
The demand is for:
시설 및 해외입양 사건을 전담하는 조사3국 신설
(the creation of an Investigation Bureau 3 dedicated to facility and overseas adoption cases)
Throughout the article and the full statement, 시설(시설수용) and 해외입양 are treated as:
distinct but structurally related categories
both requiring a separate, specialized investigative unit
not subordinate to the existing “general human rights” investigation bureau
When numbers are mentioned (e.g. “인력 50여명 충원”), that figure is tied to:
the creation of 조사3국, not to adoption alone
Bottom line
The investigators discussed are for a new, dedicated bureau covering:
confinement/institutional abuse cases and overseas adoption cases (including but not limited to those originating in facilities)
They are not:
only for adoption-from-facilities cases
nor a vague count of “all adoption investigators across TRC3”
They are:
for a specialized third bureau meant to handle both facility abuse and overseas adoption as major, standalone investigation areas.”