Korea still fails to follow int'l child abduction pact despite diplomatic engagements: US report

John Sichi, a U.S. citizen whose Korean spouse ran off with their child, stages a treadmill protest in front of Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul, November 30, 2022. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Report details high-level meetings between Seoul, Washington on international child abduction cases that remain unresolved

By Lee Hyo-jin

Korea remains non-compliant with international parental child abduction conventions regarding cases involving U.S. children, despite diplomatic engagements between Seoul and Washington, according to a U.S. State Department report published, Monday (local time).

The report, titled "Action Report on International Child Abduction," detailed specific actions taken by the State Department in response to countries that have been showing a pattern of non-compliance with the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Other than Korea, the non-compliant nations listed in the report were Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Bulgaria, Ecuador, Egypt, Honduras, India, Jordan, Peru, Romania, Russia and the United Arab Emirates.

International parental child abduction refers to the removal or retention of a child outside their country of habitual residence in breach of another parent or guardian's custody rights. The Hague Convention ― ratified in Korea in 2012 ― is an international treaty aiming to protect children from international parental abductions among party countries by encouraging the prompt return of the children in abduction.

The abduction cases pointed out by the U.S. report involve the denial of a request by an American father to return his child unilaterally taken to Korea by a Korean mother.

As of 2022, there were four cases of international abduction of U.S. children by their Korean parents. Two of those cases have remained unresolved for more than a year.

Monday's report found that U.S. officials in Washington and the American embassy in Seoul have been repeatedly raising concerns to their Korean counterparts about Seoul's failure to enforce the Hague Convention's return orders for the last few months.

In October 2022, officials at the state department's Office of Children's Issues met with diplomats at the Korean Embassy in Washington to discuss the matter. In December that year, Michelle Bernier-Toth, the special advisor for children's issues, traveled to Seoul where she met officials from Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Court.

U.S. Ambassador to Korea Philip Goldberg met with Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon in January this year to urge the prompt resolutions of child abduction cases, according to the report.

The Ministry of Justice building in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province / Korea Times file

In April, officials from the State Department's Bureaus of Consular Affairs, and East Asia and the Pacific, met with a senior adviser to President Yoon Suk Yeol in Washington to discuss the matter and offer necessary assistance to improve compliance. In the same month, Bernier-Toth met with Korea's counselor for legal affairs in Washington to discuss the formation of a task force to address child abduction cases.

These two meetings held in Washington apparently took place during Yoon's state visit to the U.S. capital from April 24 to 29 for a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden, according to John Sichi, an American parent who is looking for his two children in Korea.

In 2019, Sichi's Korean spouse took their children from their home in San Fransico to Korea and disappeared. She has been refusing to return the children despite an order from the San Francisco County Superior Court. For the last couple of years, Sichi has been closely communicating with U.S. officials who have been helping him locate the children and bring them back home.

"The U.S. Embassy didn't tell me which Korean official was (involved in the meeting in Washington), but they did say the meetings at the time of the presidential visit led to the task force team being formed," Sichi told The Korea Times, Tuesday, adding that the Korean president should be aware of the issue.

Sichi said the inaugural meeting of the task force ― involving the U.S. Embassy, Korea's foreign ministry, justice ministry and possibly the Supreme Court ― was held in Seoul on June 13.

John Sichi, a U.S. citizen whose Korean spouse ran off with their child, gestures during an interview with The Korea Times at a cafe in Seoul, Nov. 30, 2022. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

In a phone call with The Korea Times in June, an official at the justice ministry confirmed the launch of the task force, but declined to elaborate on which organizations are included and whether the task force is holding meetings on a regular basis.

The U.S. Embassy in Korea, for its part, welcomed the formation of the task force.

"We support the creation of this task force and urge its expeditious review of impediments preventing resolution of longstanding cases involving abducted children," an embassy official said in an email.

"One of the highest priorities of the U.S. Department of State is the safety and welfare of U.S. citizens overseas, and we are dedicated to protecting the welfare of our most vulnerable citizens ― children," the official added, urging the Korean government to review and address any impediments that have resulted in a pattern of non-compliance with the Hague Convention.

Sichi expressed hopes that the diplomatic discussions between the two governments would spur swift action from the Korean government.

"I'm grateful that government officials in both countries are now treating the issue with the seriousness it deserves. But never-ending talks are not enough to bring our kids home. We need urgent action now," he said.

"I have been contacted by quite a few other left-behind parents dealing with abductions to Korea, and unless the enforcement procedures are improved very soon, many of them will end up facing the same impossible situation."

While officials in Seoul say that international child abduction cases tend to remain in limbo due to legal loopholes in the country's judiciary system, Korea's continued non-compliance with the Hague Convention is feared to negatively affect the Yoon government's push for stronger alliance with Washington.

U.S. Congressman Chris Smith, chair of the House Foreign Affairs human rights subcommittee said during a hearing in May that the Biden administration should take stronger actions ― such as withholding U.S. assistance to foreign governments and invoking sanctions ― against countries that remain non-compliant with the Hague Convention.