South Korea’s international adoption program, once hailed as a solution for orphans and struggling families, has come under renewed scrutiny following a rare and public apology from President Lee Jae Myung. On October 2, 2025, President Lee addressed the nation and the world, acknowledging the deep wounds and injustices suffered by thousands of Korean adoptees sent abroad in the latter half of the 20th century. His words, delivered both in a Facebook post and via official statements, mark the most significant admission of state responsibility to date for a system that, for decades, operated with little oversight and, as mounting evidence now shows, with widespread fraud and abuse.
“I offer a heartfelt apology and words of comfort to South Koreans adopted abroad and their adoptive and birth families,” President Lee stated, as reported by the Associated Press. He went on to express the weight of the country’s collective conscience, saying he “feels heavy-hearted” when reflecting on the “anxiety, pain and confusion” endured by adoptees who were sent overseas as children. These words, while overdue for many, represent a pivotal moment in South Korea’s reckoning with its past.
The apology comes on the heels of a landmark report released in March 2025 by South Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The commission’s nearly three-year investigation, which reviewed complaints from 367 adoptees across Europe, the United States, and Australia, confirmed state responsibility for human rights abuses within the international adoption system. According to the Associated Press and France24, the commission found that the government not only failed to protect vulnerable children but actively facilitated adoptions driven by a desire to reduce welfare costs. This revelation aligns closely with an earlier Associated Press and Frontline (PBS) investigation that exposed systemic collusion between South Korean authorities, Western governments, and adoption agencies, resulting in roughly 200,000 Korean children being sent overseas—often under dubious circumstances.
For many adoptees, the pain was compounded by the discovery that their personal histories were fabricated. Records were frequently falsified to portray children as abandoned orphans, when in reality, many had living parents or were taken from their families under questionable pretenses. As Al Jazeera highlighted, this deceit was especially prevalent in the years between 1950 and 1953, when some 14,000 Korean children were sent abroad, many of them falsely labeled orphans to increase their chances of adoption. The trend continued into the 1970s and 1980s, when South Korea’s adoption program reached its zenith, sending thousands of children abroad each year.
One particularly troubling aspect, reported by AsAmNews, was the targeting of mixed-race children—often fathered by American military personnel stationed in South Korea. These children were considered social outcasts and, as a result, were disproportionately sent overseas. The United States became the largest recipient of Korean adoptees, a fact that underscores the international dimension of the issue and the complicity of multiple actors in perpetuating the system.
Adoptees themselves have been vocal about the lasting impact of these policies. Alice Stephens, a Korean adoptee, told AsAmNews, “By putting in place this system that claims I’m an orphan when I was not an orphan, the Korean government was basically manufacturing a lie in order to facilitate the exploitation of children.” Such testimonies highlight the personal toll exacted by decades of government-sanctioned deception and neglect.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s findings have galvanized calls for reform and redress. President Lee’s apology is seen as a direct response to mounting pressure from adoptee advocacy groups and international observers. In his statement, Lee urged government officials to develop new systems to safeguard the human rights of adoptees and to support their ongoing efforts to reconnect with birth families. While he did not specify what these new measures would entail, the president’s remarks signal a willingness to confront the legacy of the adoption program head-on.
Crucially, South Korea has taken concrete steps to address past failings. In July 2025, the government ratified the Hague Adoption Convention, an international treaty designed to protect children and families involved in intercountry adoptions. The treaty, which took effect in South Korea on October 1, 2025, establishes rigorous standards for transparency, consent, and oversight—measures that were sorely lacking during the height of the country’s adoption boom. The move has been welcomed by child welfare advocates, who see it as a long-overdue commitment to ethical practices and accountability.
Yet, for many adoptees and their families, the wounds remain raw. The process of uncovering the truth about one’s origins is often fraught with bureaucratic obstacles and emotional turmoil. As the Associated Press and France24 have documented, countless adoptees have spent years searching for answers, only to encounter incomplete or deliberately altered records. The government’s acknowledgment of this reality is a step forward, but many are now calling for more tangible forms of restitution—ranging from access to accurate records and support for family reunification to public memorials and financial compensation.
The broader context of South Korea’s adoption program cannot be ignored. In the aftermath of the Korean War, the country faced widespread poverty, social upheaval, and a lack of resources to care for orphaned and abandoned children. International adoption was seen by some as a humanitarian solution, offering children the promise of a better life abroad. However, as investigative reports have shown, the system quickly became a means of exporting a social problem rather than addressing its root causes. The prioritization of expediency and cost-saving measures led to the erosion of safeguards and, ultimately, to the exploitation of some of the country’s most vulnerable citizens.
Internationally, the story of Korean adoptees has resonated with other communities affected by similar practices. The movement for truth and reconciliation in South Korea is part of a broader reckoning with the ethics of intercountry adoption, particularly in cases where poverty, war, or social stigma played a decisive role in separating families. As more countries grapple with their own histories of adoption-related abuses, South Korea’s experience offers both a cautionary tale and a blueprint for meaningful reform.
President Lee’s apology, while significant, is just the beginning of a longer journey toward healing and justice. The challenge now lies in translating words into action—ensuring that the mistakes of the past are not repeated and that the rights and dignity of adoptees are finally upheld. For the thousands of individuals whose lives were shaped by South Korea’s adoption program, the hope is that this moment will mark a new chapter—one defined by transparency, accountability, and, above all, compassion.
