Significance and Tasks of the TRC’s Human Rights Violation Decision on Intercountry Adoption. 

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Important Legal Event for Korean Adoptees!
You do NOT need to have participated in the TRC to attend!

See: Original post by 공익인권법재단 공감 GongGam Human Rights Law Foundation

GongGam Human Rights Law Foundation has a reputation for helping Korean Adoptees for over 15 years!

https://www.youtube.com/@flynisoon 

Please note that the YouTube channel is wrong on the flier. The link above is the correct one.

Please note the event date in time is KST (Korea Standard Time). For most of us in the US, Korea is about a day ahead of us. Please do the date and time conversion so you do not miss out!

Time and Date Converter:
https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

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Translation of flier via ChatGPT:

Significance and Tasks of the TRC’s Human Rights Violation Decision on Intercountry Adoption 

August 26th, 2025 (KST / Korea Standard Time)
14:00-17:30

[Overseas Adoption: The Significance of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Decision and Future Tasks]

“On Tuesday, August 26, I will be delivering the keynote speech at a National Assembly forum on overseas adoption.

Here is an excerpt from that speech:

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission confirmed state conduct that is absolutely unacceptable, and recommendations were made accordingly. Yet, shockingly, the government has remained completely silent, without a single statement of position.

I hope more people come to understand this tragic reality, and that we can work together to find solutions.

The Significance and Content of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Decision on Illegal Overseas Adoptions (March 25, 2025)

1. Official recognition that illegal overseas adoptions were a structural result of the state’s continuous abuse of power.

• Korea’s overseas adoption policy began after the Korean War as a measure to send so-called "mixed-race" children abroad, which were seen as inconsistent with the ideal of a homogeneous ethnic nation.
  (Emergency Relief Measures by the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, 1953; Cabinet Resolution, 1956; Orphan Act, 1957)

• Since the 1950s, the Korean government actively utilized overseas adoption as a solution for children in need of care from an economic perspective. It delegated all adoption procedures to private adoption agencies (granting them absolute authority such as guardianship and consent rights) without proper oversight. As a result, a large number of domestic children in need were sent overseas.
  (Orphan Adoption Special Act, 1961; Special Adoption Act, 1977)

• Decisions such as operating adoption quotas, suspensions, and resumptions were often based not on the welfare of the child, but on external factors such as North Korean criticism, demands from receiving countries, and excessive competition among adoption agencies to secure children for adoption.
  (Documents from the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, 1970s–1980s)

• Throughout this process, children's original identities and family information were lost, distorted, or falsified. Even after being sent abroad, they were not properly protected, resulting in violations of their dignity, right to pursue happiness, right to know and be raised by their parents whenever possible, right to a name, and right to be registered immediately after birth.

2. Official confirmation of the extensive and diverse human rights violations throughout the process of illegal overseas adoptions.

• Agency investments aimed at securing adoptable children

• Commodification of children, such as discounted fees for children with disabilities

• Mass overseas adoptions tailored to meet the demands of waiting adoptive parents

• Falsified records, including false orphan registration based on fake discovery reports

• Immediate referral of "abandoned" infants (who may have been missing children) to adoption agencies on the day of entry into infant care facilities

• Public announcements verifying guardianship obligations conducted at inappropriate times and locations merely as a formality

• Adoptions lacking proper consent, such as consent given by individuals without legal authority

• Inadequate screening of adoptive parents, with approvals granted on the day of application or the following day

• Provision of incomplete or falsified information to adoptive parents

• Forced donations to secure adoptable children

• Deliberate identity switching when a child died or adoption was canceled

• Arbitrary transfer of guardianship to overseas adoption agencies before the child’s departure, neglecting guardian responsibilities

• Failure to confirm acquisition of nationality in receiving countries

• Human rights violations due to child abuse or failure to acquire nationality

• Adoption agencies’ neglect in helping biological families search for missing children adopted abroad

3. Recommendations based on a human rights-based approach to address state responsibility for illegal overseas adoptions.

• State: Acknowledge wrongdoing and issue an official apology to adoptees

• State: Prioritize domestic measures for children in need of care

• State: Ratify the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption

• Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Establish a dedicated investigative body to identify and support victims of illegal adoptions and those who did not acquire citizenship in receiving countries

• Ministry of the Interior and Safety: Provide corrective measures for official records and support for victims who lost their identity or nationality

• Ministry of Health and Welfare: Improve systems to ensure adoptees' right to know their origins by collecting, preserving, and providing records from adoption agencies, welfare facilities, medical/counseling/temporary care institutions, and local governments

• State: Create an organization to support DNA testing, reunions, and exchanges to help restore relationships between adoptees and biological families

• Adoption Agencies: Apologize to affected adoptees, actively participate in restitution efforts, and ensure the faithful transfer of all records without omissions”

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Adoptee Politics Gatekeeping Alert!

Please be advised that there is a non-Korean Adoptee individual who is attempting to gatekeep / prevent actual Korean Adoptees from attending this important event — ridiculously, on behalf of a supposed Korean Adoptee “Rights” organization! Please note that anyone — Korean Adoptee or otherwise — who attempts to prevent Korean Adoptees from attending events which could help them achieve justice in their adoption cases does NOT actually support Adoptee Justice!

This behavior unfortunately is in keeping with a pattern of gatekeeping and exclusion by DKRG to which we have been subjected since 2022. Please see:

Why There Were So Few US Cases Submitted To The TRC 2 Investigation Into Overseas Adoption

Do what you need to do for yourself in order to obtain justice in your adoption case — and not for any particular organization!