Report: Stinging criticism of South Korea's adoption practices - supposed to meet Western needs

South Korea's adoption practices over nearly 50 years are being butchered in a new report, with the government largely blamed.

The report, prepared by South Korea's Truth and Reconciliation Commission and presented at a press conference in Seoul on Wednesday, follows a three-year investigation and describes the entire adoption process as a mistake.

The commission also believes that the government must apologize to the victims and provide compensation to children whose identities were forged.

Many children were given orphan status even though their parents were alive, which has made it very difficult for adopted children to track down their biological relatives. Some of the children were outright abducted from their parents before they were adopted.

The commission states that for almost 50 years, South Korea handed over responsibility to adoption agencies without adequate oversight, and that the adoptions were characterized by fraud and mismanagement.

– Many were lucky

“Although many adoptees were lucky and grew up in loving families, others experienced great hardship and trauma as a result of a flawed adoption process,” said commission chair Park Sun-young when the report was presented.

For three years, the commission has investigated complaints from 367 adoptees in eleven Western countries, including 21 from Norway, according to the Norwegian-Korean Rights Group .

The commission has concluded that children's human rights were violated in 56 cases. The investigation, which continues until the end of May, is the largest of its kind in South Korea to date.

– Should meet Western needs

Most of the adoptions were done during the military regime in South Korea in the 1970s and 80s.

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– It was a way to get rid of children that South Korea did not want. We have received that recognition today, says Hanna Johansson, who was adopted to Sweden as an infant in 1976, to the news agency TT.

Also in Sweden, 21 adoptees have joined the review.

– They recognize that the entire adoption program was part of meeting a Western need for children, Johansson continues.

Can't find relatives

South Korean data obtained by the AP news agency shows that a total of 15,000 adopted people have requested help to find their relatives since 2012, but that only a fifth have been successful.

The commission also concludes that adoption abroad was considered a cheaper alternative than developing a separate welfare system for children in need of assistance.

The South Korean government gave adoption agencies extensive custody rights over children so that they could be quickly transferred to families in other countries.

– I hope that South Korea will continue to discuss how their adoptions were conducted, and that they will reflect on whether they really want to open up adoptions again, says Hanna Johansson.

She also hopes that parents who experienced having their children adopted out without consent will come forward and try to track down the children they lost.