TV 2 Nyhederne / TV 2 Danmark: “Adoptees can now file a lawsuit against the Danish state – could have implications for thousands of Danes.”
Image credit: Paperslip.org
+
Original Danish Article published on April 22, 2026.
Posted to Paperslip on April 22nd, 2026.
Translation via ChatGPT.
BOLDS and blue highlighting ours.
Please see original Danish article for photos and related article links.
+
“The Secret in the Shadow Archive
Adoptees can now take legal action against the Danish state – could affect thousands of Danes
It’s time to clean things up, says Sofie Randel, who was adopted from South Korea to Denmark. She and seven others have filed a lawsuit against the Danish state.”
Sofie Randel in 2023. Photo: TV 2
Yesterday at 17:28
Amalie Abildgaard
“Eight adoptees from South Korea have now been given the green light to have their case heard in court.
The adoptees believe that Danish authorities failed to meet their responsibility to protect their rights.
See also
Adoptees demand compensation from the Danish state – it has been “systematic human trafficking”
They have therefore sued the Danish state and are seeking compensation of 250,000 kroner per person — a total of two million kroner — for violations of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which concerns the right to respect for family life.
This is according to attorney Viktor Kieler Herskind from Pramming Advokater, who is helping to lead the case.
“We believe that our clients’ right to family life has been violated because oversight of adoptions has been insufficient. Additionally, there has been no meaningful assistance in establishing contact with their biological families,” the lawyer told TV 2.
“It’s insane that Denmark has been so slow to act,”
— Sofie Randel, adoptee from South Korea
Could affect thousands
The case has the potential to become very significant. Thousands of children came to Denmark from South Korea in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s under the pretense that they were foundlings.
According to Korean law at the time, only orphaned children could be adopted out, but it has since emerged that many children’s documents were falsified so they could be adopted even though they were not orphans.
The adoptions took place as cooperation between adoption agencies in South Korea and Denmark, and the many cases of document fraud in Korea raise questions about how much the Danish agencies actually knew at the time.
See also
Report reveals adoption fraud – minister responds
“We are pursuing this case on behalf of the eight with the aim that it will have far-reaching consequences for the thousands of other adoptees from South Korea to Denmark,” says Viktor Kieler Herskind.
He adds that Pramming Advokater has received around 80 inquiries regarding the same issue.
“Clearly illegal”
Two of the eight are Sofie Randel and her brother Nikolaj Dausell, who were illegally adopted from South Korea in 1977.
In 2023, they found their family in South Korea in collaboration with TV 2 in the documentary “The Secret in the Shadow Archive.”
“My brother and I were fortunate to find our family, and we’ve received a life gift we didn’t know existed. What I can give back is that I’m taking this political and legal fight now, because it’s so clear that what happened was illegal,” Sofie Randel told TV 2.
See also
Sofie recorded a tape at age three in 1977 – now it reveals lifelong deception
She also criticizes how long it has taken for the case to reach court, noting that time is working against them.
Sofie Randel and her brother only just managed to meet their sister in South Korea before she died last year.
“Time is very important to me, because we are getting older, and our family members in South Korea are getting older. We were able to meet my sister, and that was a human gift — but everyone should have that opportunity,” she says.
Sofie Randel and Nikolaj Dausell with their family from South Korea. Photo: Private
“It’s insane”
For her, the compensation claim is not the most important part of the lawsuit. What matters most is that the Danish state takes responsibility and gets to the bottom of what happened.
“It’s time to clean things up. In South Korea, the authorities have issued a political apology. It’s insane that Denmark has been so slow to do the same,” she says.
See also
Parties call for independent investigation of the entire adoption sector
Sofie Randel and the seven others have now been granted legal aid, meaning the state will cover legal costs.
The case has not yet been scheduled, but the lawyer believes it will be filed “in the near future.”
Acting Minister for Social Affairs and Housing Sophie Hæstorp Andersen (Social Democrats) declined to give an interview to TV 2, stating through the press office that it was not possible because the government has stepped down.”’