South Korea committed rights violations during overseas adoptions, truth commission finds

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean adoption agencies sent children abroad like "luggage" for decades, labelling some as orphans when they had parents and sending alternative babies when infants had died before heading overseas, a truth commission said on Wednesday.

After a 2-year inquiry, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was empowered by parliament, recommended the government make an official apology, carry out follow-up investigations and put relief measures in place for victims.

It said it found human rights violations in the cases of at least 56 adoptees from a petition filed by 367 adoptees sent overseas between 1964 and 1999 to 11 countries including the United States, France, Denmark and Sweden.

In presenting its findings, it published a picture of babies wrapped in blankets and strapped into seats on an airliner in 1984, with the title "Children sent abroad like luggage".

It noted South Korean adoption agencies complied with foreign agencies' demands to send a set number of children each month.

"For nearly 50 years following the Korean War, the government prioritised intercountry adoption as a cost-effective alternative to strengthening domestic child welfare policies," the commission said.

It said the government had neglected its responsibility to provide oversight and block "misconduct by adoption agencies" such as fraudulent orphan registrations, identity tampering, and inadequate vetting of adoptive parents.

Adoption agencies did not receive proper consent for adoption, falsified documents to present babies as orphans when they had known parents, and when some babies died before they were sent overseas, other babies were sent in their names, the commission said.

The independent commission was set up by a revised act of parliament in 2020, with the ruling and opposition parties each naming four people to make up the eight members sitting under a chairperson named by the president.

The office of South Korea's acting president could not be immediately reached for comment on its report.

Besides recommending an official apology, the commission also called for a comprehensive survey on adoptees' citizenship status and any corresponding policy measures, remedies for victims whose identities were falsified, a prompt ratification of the Hague Adoption Convention, and to ensure a commitment from adoption agencies to restore adoptees' rights.

"These violations should never have occurred," said Park Sun-young, chairperson of the commission. "We must come together-adoptive countries and adoptees alike-to address the identity crises many adoptees face."

(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Alison Williams)