South Korea president apologises for abusive foreign adoption scheme

Programme, which started aft Korean War arsenic a mode of removing mixed-race children from society, violated quality rights.

South Korea’s president has apologised for a notorious foreign adoption scheme acceptable up aft the 1950-53 Korean War that caused “anxiety, pain, and confusion” to much than 14,000 children sent abroad.

President Lee Jae-myung said successful a Facebook station connected Thursday that helium was offering “heartfelt apology and words of comfort” to South Koreans adopted overseas and their adoptive and commencement families, 7 months aft a Truth and Reconciliation Commission said the programme violated the quality rights of adoptees.

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The commission, which investigated complaints from 367 adoptees successful Europe, the United States and Australia, held the authorities accountable for facilitating adoptions done fraudulent practices, including falsifying records to represent children arsenic abandoned orphans and switching identities.

Lee said helium felt “heavy-hearted” erstwhile helium thought astir the “anxiety, symptom and confusion” that South Korean adoptees would person suffered erstwhile they were sent overseas arsenic children, and asked officials to formulate systems to safeguard the quality rights of adoptees and enactment their efforts to find their commencement parents.

Mass planetary adoptions began aft the Korean War arsenic a mode to region mixed-race children calved to section mothers and American GI fathers from a nine that emphasised taste homogeneity, with much than 140,000 children sent overseas betwixt 1955 and 1999.

Foreign adoptions person continued successful much caller times, with much than 100 children connected average, often babies calved to unmarried women who look ostracism successful a blimpish society, inactive being sent overseas for adoption each twelvemonth successful the 2020s.

After years of delay, South Korea successful July ratified The Hague Adoption Convention, an planetary pact meant to safeguard planetary adoptions. The pact took effect successful South Korea connected Wednesday.

Former president Kim Dae-jung apologised during a gathering with overseas adoptees successful 1998, saying: “From the bottommost of my heart, I americium genuinely sorry. I profoundly consciousness that we person committed a sedate incorrect against you.”

But helium stopped abbreviated of acknowledging the state’s work for the decades of malpractice.