Lee Hyo-jin covers the Bank of Korea, the banking industry and broader financial news. Her previous beats include foreign affairs, North Korea and general reporting on Korean society.
Korea's truth commission to open new bureau for overseas adoption cases
Song Sang-kyo, chairperson of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, speaks during a press conference at the commission's office in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap
By Lee Hyo-jin
Applicants will be able to file complaints through Korean diplomatic missions abroad
Korea’s truth-seeking commission plans to establish a dedicated bureau to investigate alleged human rights abuses linked to the country’s overseas adoption program and residential facilities, its chair said Wednesday, as complaints from adoptees continue to mount.
Song Sang-kyo, chairperson of the newly launched third Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), said the body will also step up efforts to help people living abroad submit complaints through Korean diplomatic missions.
Complaints related to overseas adoption have flooded the commission. A total of 311 applications alleging misconduct in intercountry adoptions were filed on Feb. 26, the commission’s launch day, and officials expect the number to rise as more adoptees living overseas learn about the process.
"There have been continued calls, both within and outside the commission, to establish Investigation Bureau 3 dedicated to cases involving human rights abuses at institutional care facilities and in overseas adoptions," Song said at a press conference, his first since taking office on March 4.
Legislation passed in February paved the way for the new bureau, although the chairperson said further administrative steps are required before it can be formally launched. In the meantime, the commission plans to launch a task force as early as this week to begin preparatory work.
The commission currently operates two investigative bureaus, meaning the creation of a third — dedicated to investigating possible human rights violations in overseas adoption and residential care facilities — would mark a significant expansion of its investigative capacity.
As an independent state body mandated to investigate historical injustices, the commission is set to revisit allegations of misconduct in Korea’s overseas adoption system, which sent roughly 200,000 babies and children abroad, mostly to Western countries between the 1960s and 1980s.
Marrit Kim van der Staaij submits documents, including complaints over alleged adoption irregularities involving her late mother, Kim Ji-mi, who was adopted to the Netherlands, at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission office in Seoul, Feb. 26. Kim's filing was designated "Case No. 1" in the renewed state probe into the country's intercountry adoption program. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
For decades, adoptees and advocacy groups have argued that the government failed to adequately regulate adoption agencies or safeguard children’s rights, allowing abuses to occur with little oversight.
The government’s first official probe into the issue began during the commission’s second term in December 2022. That panel, which ended last November, released its first findings on overseas adoption cases but resolved only 56 of the 367 complaints it received, leaving many adoptees dissatisfied.
The third commission aims to address those shortcomings.
"In the previous commission, investigations were conducted by a relatively small number of personnel," Song said. "We will recruit more experts so that a more systematic investigation can be carried out."
He added that the investigation will require additional personnel with specialized expertise, including foreign language skills, as many adoptees live in the United States and Europe and hold records issued by foreign institutions.
"This is also the first time that applications are being received through overseas diplomatic missions," the chairperson said. "Building a strong cooperation system with those missions will be one of our key early tasks."
Song shared plans to begin discussions with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Overseas Koreans Agency to support the process.
The new commission also plans to expand ex officio investigations to address cases involving victims who were unable to file complaints themselves.
Under the current system, the commission primarily investigates cases filed directly by victims, but Song said the third commission will pursue broader inquiries into overseas adoptions if certain cases are deemed to involve large groups of victims who may not have submitted applications.