Unacceptable statements from the President of South Korea - Adoption & Society have asked the embassy for an explanation!

At a press conference on January 18 this year, South Korean President Moon Jae-in made statements about adoption, which has shaken adoptees and adoptive families around the world.

According to online media coverage, the president said adoptive parents should have the option to cancel an adoption within a certain time period and possibly be able to swap the child for another.

With good reason, adoptees and adoptive families have been both shocked and outraged by such statements by the head of state in a country that has carried out thousands of adoptions for more than six decades and still carries out hundreds of adoptions - national and international. Korean opposition politicians and the Korean public have also promptly criticized President Moon, who is also a former human rights lawyer, for using these statements to reduce adoptees to a commodity that can only be returned or exchanged.

The president's spokesmen have tried to calm the anger by saying that the president has been misunderstood and misunderstood, and that he instead believed that foster families should be allowed to change their minds before a formal adoption. The many outraged adoptees and adoptive families do not believe this explanation is adequate, and a petition has been launched to demand a clear denial and an unequivocal apology.

Adoption & Samfund also believes that the statements - as they appear in the media coverage online - are criticisable, but also incomprehensible, and we have approached the Korean Embassy in Denmark to get an official indication of whether the said statements are actually comprehensive for the Korean government's view of adoption.

On 20 April 2021, the South Korean Embassy in Denmark responded to Adoptions & Samfund's inquiry about South Korean President Moon Jae - in's statements on adoption.

The embassy explains that the statements fell in a context that revolved around foster families' possible adoption of foster children. In these cases, the President considers it appropriate that the foster families be given time to think before making the final decision on adoption.

Adoption & Society then considers the case to be explained in an adequate manner.

.