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.
Korean adoptee seeks gov't compensation for flaws in overseas adoption
This photo shows Kim Yoo-ree, 11, in May 1984, the year she was adopted to France. Courtesy of Kim Yoo-ree
By Lee Hyo-jin
41 years after her adoption, Kim Yoo-ree wants Korea to take responsibility
Kim Yoo-ree, a 52-year-old Korean adoptee, has filed a groundbreaking compensation claim against the Korean government, alleging official negligence in her overseas adoption more than four decades ago.
The claim, which is the first publicly known case, seeks redress for a childhood she describes as a series of abuses at the hands of her French adoptive parents. Her legal team says a decision in the coming weeks could establish a significant precedent, opening the door for thousands of other overseas adoptees to seek similar remedies.
Kim was sent to France at the age of 11 in 1984, along with her younger brother. She says she endured physical, verbal and sexual abuse by her adoptive parents. It was only in 2022 that she began to speculate that her adoption may have been unlawful, prompting her to pursue legal action.
According to her compensation claim document viewed by The Korea Times, Monday, Kim's request is based on two major allegations of wrongdoings by Korean authorities.
She was sent to France without her legal guardian's consent after an orphan registry was created, despite official documents proving she had living family. Her lawyers say this amounts to falsification of government records.
Her claim also notes that Korean law at that time required overseas adoptive parents to be between 25 and 45 years old. Kim's adoptive father was 50, making him ineligible to adopt a Korean child. Her legal team argues that Ministry of Health and Welfare officials, who oversaw the adoption process at the time, were negligent in allowing the adoption to proceed.
Kim was among 56 adoptees cited in a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) report released in March, which marked the Korean government's first-ever acknowledgment of misconduct in overseas adoptions.
Korea saw a surge in government-led overseas adoptions from the 1960s to the 1980s, driven by poverty, social stigma against unwed parents and policies aimed at population control. The adoption process had long been suspected of involving coercion and inadequate consent.
The TRC's landmark report, based on a sweeping probe into the nation's past adoption practices, described babies and children being sent abroad "like luggage." It detailed widespread malpractice by private adoption agencies due to inadequate government oversight.
Park Sun-young, left, chairwoman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), comforts Kim Yoo-ree, a Korean sent to France for adoption at age 11, during a press conference at the TRC's office in Seoul, March 26. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
"The Korean government should feel ashamed about this," said Kim, who lost her Korean citizenship upon adoption and is currently living in Seoul on a visa for ethnic Koreans.
"The past adoption system violated Korea's Constitution. If there is still no sense of shame about this, that in itself is shameful," she told The Korea Times. "Justice delayed is justice denied."
The French national's compensation claim marks the first publicly known request for government redress based on the TRC report.
It was filed last Friday with a compensation review board in Seoul under the Ministry of Justice, according to attorney Choi Jeong-gyu, Kim's legal representative. By law, authorities have four weeks to decide whether to accept or reject the claim.
"The TRC, as a government agency, has already identified the state's wrongdoing. If the justice ministry refuses to provide compensation, it would be a contradiction between government bodies and would only deepen the victim's suffering," Choi said.
The attorney emphasized that pursuing compensation through administrative channels, rather than going straight to court, was intended to minimize additional stress for his client. He added that if the claim is rejected, Kim is considering taking the case to civil court.
"Filing a lawsuit against the state is a lengthy process and often forces victims to relive their trauma in court, which, tragically, has been the case of many victims of past government wrongdoings," he said. "My client does not want to go through that."
The compensation amount was left blank in the claim, Choi noted, in line with the TRC's recommendation that the government should take the lead in determining appropriate redress.
"Rather than forcing adoptees to calculate compensation for their physical and emotional harm themselves, we believe the state, which bears full responsibility, should set the appropriate amount."
Kim and her legal team hope the claim can be resolved without litigation, potentially setting a precedent for other adoptees also seeking compensation.