South Korea's president apologises for abusive overseas adoptions
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has issued a formal apology for decades of abusive foreign adoptions, acknowledging state responsibility for human rights violations that sent more than 140,000 children abroad from the 1950s onward.
In a statement posted on October 2, Lee offered “heartfelt apology and words of comfort” to adoptees, their adoptive families, and birth parents, admitting the government failed to protect children from fraud and abuse.
His remarks follow a March 2025 report by South Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which concluded the state facilitated irregular adoptions, including falsifying records to portray children as orphans and switching identities.
The adoption program began after the 1950 - 53 Korean War as part of efforts to ease social and economic pressures, including the stigma surrounding children of U.S. soldiers and unmarried mothers in a society focused on ethnic homogeneity.
According to government data, more than 140,000 children were sent abroad between 1955 and 1999, mostly to the United States and Europe. Adoptions continue today, with around 100 South Korean children still sent overseas each year.
South Korea ratified the Hague Adoption Convention in July 2025, an international treaty that took effect this week, establishing safeguards to prevent abuses in cross-border adoptions. Advocacy groups welcomed the step but warned that thousands of adoptees abroad, particularly in the United States, remain at risk of deportation due to incomplete citizenship paperwork.
“Adoptees endured anxiety, pain, and confusion when separated from their families and homeland,” Lee said, adding that his government would work to strengthen protections and support reunification efforts.
The apology is the first by a sitting president to explicitly acknowledge state responsibility for malpractice in international adoptions, marking a significant moment for South Korea and the global adoptee community.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
