South Korean Commission Uncovers Forced Adoptions in State-Run Facilities

A recent investigation by South Korea's Truth and Reconciliation Commission has brought to light disturbing evidence of forced infant adoptions from government-funded facilities between the 1960s and 1980s. This revelation adds another layer to the complex history of South Korea's international adoption program, which has sent over 200,000 children abroad since the 1950s.

The commission, established in December 2020, focused on four facilities in Seoul, Daegu, South Chungcheong, and Gyeonggi provinces. These institutions were part of a larger system that confined and exploited thousands of vulnerable individuals, including children and adults who were often forcibly removed from the streets.

Ha Kum Chul, an investigator with the commission, reported that at least 20 adoptions occurred from two facilities, Huimangwon in Daegu and Cheonseongwon in South Chungcheong province, in 1985 and 1986 alone. During this period, South Korea's foreign adoption program reached its peak, with over 17,500 children sent abroad in those two years.

The investigation revealed that most of the adopted infants were transferred to agencies such as Holt Children's Services and Eastern Social Welfare Society on the day of their birth or the following day. These agencies then placed the children with families in countries including the United States, Denmark, Norway, and Australia.

While some records indicate that women consented to give up their children, other documents suggest coercion. In one disturbing case from 1985, a 42-year-old inmate at Huimangwon was flagged for "causing problems" by refusing to relinquish her child, highlighting the pressure placed on these vulnerable women.

The commission's findings also shed light on other human rights violations within these facilities. Gaengsaengwon in Seoul reported 262 inmate deaths in 1980, accounting for over 25% of its population that year. In a particularly grim discovery, nearly 120 bodies of Cheonseongwon inmates were provided to a local medical school for anatomy practice between 1982 and 1992.

These revelations are part of South Korea's ongoing efforts to confront its past and address historical injustices. The country's transition to democracy in the late 1980s marked the end of these practices, but the impact on thousands of lives continues to resonate.

"It's significant that we have comprehensively revealed the details of the human rights violations at (other) vagrant facilities across the country that had been concealed for 37 years."

This investigation contributes to a broader understanding of South Korea's "compressed modernity," where rapid economic growth led to accelerated social changes. The country's family planning policies in the 1960s and 1970s, aimed at reducing population growth, intersected with the expansion of the international adoption program, initially focused on mixed-race children born to Korean women and foreign soldiers.

As South Korea continues to grapple with its past, the commission's work represents an important step towards acknowledging and addressing historical wrongs. The country's ratification of the Hague Adoption Convention in 2013 has improved international adoption practices, but the legacy of these forced adoptions remains a painful chapter in South Korea's history.