[Women’s Forum] Contributed Opinion
March 27, 2025
[Women’s Forum] No Records, No Harm?… The Contradictions and Hypocrisy of the TRC
by Hee Jung Kwon
Director, Unwed Mothers Initiative for Archiving and Advocacy (UMI4AA)
｜Truth and Reconciliation Commission announces findings on overseas adoption — but reveals its own limitations ｜42 out of 98 adoptees denied recognition due to "insufficient documentation"
Between 1964 and 1999, 367 adoptees who were sent to 11 countries overseas requested an investigation into the illegal practices that occurred during their adoption process. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Republic of Korea conducted an initial investigation into 98 of them, and on March 26, announced its findings: 56 had indeed been subjected to unlawful adoptions.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission acknowledged that, in the course of overseas adoptions, children’s original identities and family information were at times lost, distorted, or inaccurately recorded. It further recognized that, following their transfer abroad, adoptees were not provided with adequate protection, resulting in a failure to fully uphold the rights of the child as enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Korea and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Specifically, the findings identified instances such as the absence of lawful consent for adoption from birth parents, falsified records including fabricated reports of children being found abandoned, deliberate alteration of children’s identities, and inadequate screening of adoptive parents. The investigation also revealed that several Western European countries provided financial incentives, described as donations, to Korean adoption agencies in connection with securing children for adoption.
“Danes can now once again ‘buy’ children from South Korea. A healthy child from South Korea costs around 10,000 DKK, while a child with a disability is sold for just 3,600 DKK. The same pricing applies to children adopted from Bangladesh, Central America, and India.” (“Disabled Children ‘Sold’ for 3,600 - Healthy Ones Cost 10,000” (Invalide Børn 'Sælges' for 3.600 - Sunde Koster 10.000), Ekstra Bladet, Denmark, November 26, 1975)
Photo Caption: An article published in the Danish daily Ekstra Bladet on November 26, 1975, reported that healthy children from South Korea could be "purchased" for approximately 10,000 DKK, while children with disabilities were available for 3,600 DKK. ⓒ Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Republic of Korea
Despite broadly acknowledging the responsibility of adoption agencies, the state, and international actors in cases of unlawful and poorly managed adoptions, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission ultimately concluded that 42 of the 98 adoptees investigated, excluding the 56 who were officially recognized, could not be acknowledged as victims due to insufficient documentation.
The decision to deny the existence of harm solely on the grounds of missing paperwork is deeply concerning. This conclusion was made despite the Commission’s own recognition that such practices were only possible through decades of unlawful practices by adoption agencies, government negligence, and the complicity of Western agencies. In this context, the ruling amounts to a form of secondary harm.
The very circumstances in which adoptees were separated from their birth families, removed from their country of origin, and denied access to information about their own birth and identities are themselves indicators of harm. In this context, the existence of the adoptees is itself evidence of the injustice.
As such, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s announcement is steeped in contradiction and hypocrisy. In the process, the Commission has undermined the credibility of its own efforts over the past two years.
Photo Caption: Infants sent overseas for adoption, laid lengthwise across airplane seats. Image from the Danish Adoption Center’s annual report (December 1984). Text in photo: “On the way home from Korea” (På vej hjem fra Korea). ⓒ Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Republic of Korea
At the press conference announcing the investigation’s findings, adoptee Yooree Kim knelt and, through tears, repeatedly urged the Commission to “please review this again,” calling for stronger recommendations to restore the rights of adoptees. While many international media outlets captioned the scene as “Chairperson Park comforting the adoptee,” a more accurate characterization would be that Chairperson Park, visibly unsettled, was attempting to de-escalate the moment.
The denial of recognition for 42 adoptees due to insufficient documentation signals a step backward in the effort to reckon with the past and pursue truth and reconciliation. Even at this stage, it is imperative to acknowledge their experiences as harm and to move toward a just resolution in support of adoptees. Only then can the path toward genuine truth and reconciliation continue with integrity. ----- This column, written by Hee Jung Kwon, director of UMI4AA, was adapted from an article published on Women News on March 27, 2025.
"[Women’s Column] No Records, No Harm?… The Contradictions and Hypocrisy of the TRC" – – Women News (www.womennews.co.kr) The English summary and translation of this article is provided by UMI4AA. | 
