Truth & Reconciliation Report Published in English
- USKRG
- Nov 18
- 2 min read
The original Korean Truth & Reconciliation Commission's report was published in March of 2025. It represents 56 petitioners out of 367 submitted cases. A 3rd Truth & Reconciliation Commission (TRC3) is expected to launch later this year.
From the Report:
In the aftermath of the Korean War, the South Korean government promoted intercountry adoption of war orphans and mixed-race children housed in facilities, citing the burden of relief costs and concerns over undermining the nation’s “monoethnic” tradition. During this period, reports surfaced of young victims of crime or missing children being misclassified as abandoned, as well as of children suffering abuse, dying, or failing to be adopted in the receiving countries. Despite these revelations, intercountry adoption continued without corrective measures.
The 56 petitioners of this case... were adopted as infants or young children between 1964 and 1999 into 11 different countries. In most cases, so-called “orphan registers” were created in bulk under the Establishment of Family system during the adoption process.3 The petitioners argue that their “right to know their identity” was violated, as some were issued duplicate family registers, while others had their identities changed to those of entirely different individuals, with some even being adopted without the explicit consent of their biological parents, and in other cases missing children were falsely recorded as abandoned before being sent overseas. Some also claim that they were adopted by individuals unfit to serve as parents and did not acquire citizenship in the receiving country until adulthood. The petitioners contend that intercountry adoptions were conducted under the sanction of Korean law and the state; that the Minister of Health and Social Affairs granted specific adoption agencies exclusive authority to handle these adoptions; and that the courts, central government ministries, and local governments neglected their responsibility to verify the children’s identities, rushing instead to create official registries and issue the documents required for departure. Issues for Investigation are as Follows: A. Flaws in the intercountry adoption process
B. Human rights violations in intercountry adoption
C. Establishing the existence of harm to the petitioners
