US EditionSouth Korea President Apologizes for Overseas Adoptions Failures
President Lee apologized for abuses and fraud in international adoption programs affecting over 170,000 children since the Korean War, following a three-year investigation and official report.
- South Korea's President Lee Jae-myung apologized for a foreign adoption scheme that caused anxiety, pain, and confusion for over 14,000 children sent abroad after the Korean War.
- The Truth and Reconciliation Commission found the government facilitated adoptions through fraudulent practices, including falsifying records and switching identities.
- Between 1955 and 1999, more than 140,000 children were adopted overseas, often due to societal pressures related to ethnic homogeneity.
- Lee emphasized the need for systems to protect adoptees' human rights and assist them in finding birth families.
46 Articles
46 Articles
S. Korean president apologises over foreign adoptions of stolen children
South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday offered a “heartfelt apology” for the country’s ill-managed adoption programme of the 1970s and 1980s that led to tens of thousands of children being sent to new homes abroad. An inquiry in March found that many of the children were wrongfully taken, even stolen, from their biological parents.
More than 140,000 children were sent abroad for adoption between 1955 and 1999, according to official data. On Thursday, 2 October, the President of South Korea apologized for these practices.
South Korea recognized for the first time, on Thursday, October 1, its responsibility in tens of thousands of abusive adoptions of South Korean children internationally, a few months after an independent official investigation establishing fraud. I have "a heavy heart to the idea of the pain of victims of illegal adoptions," said South Korean President Lee Jae-myung.
South Korea has for the first time recognized its responsibility for the abuses of tens of thousands of children sent abroad by sometimes fraudulent practices for more than a decade.
More than 140,000 children were sent abroad for adoption between 1955 and 1999 to remove Métis children born to Korean mothers and American soldiers in a country that advocates ethnic homogeneity.
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 44% of the sources lean Left, 43% of the sources are Center
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
