Truth and Reconciliation Commission Confirms 31 Overseas Adoptions from Hyeongjebokjiwon... Recommends State Apology

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) confirmed that the Hyeongje Bokjiwon sent more than 30 children overseas for adoption.

Yonhap News

On the 21st, at its 96th meeting, the TRC made a decision to ascertain the truth regarding 10 cases, including the Hyeongje Bokjiwon incident.

The TRC newly confirmed that at least 31 children detained at Hyeongje Bokjiwon from 1976 to 1989 were adopted overseas, and that 17 of their biological mothers existed. In particular, it criticized that the procedure to verify the obligor, which must be completed before sending children for adoption, was merely a formality conducted at district offices unrelated to the location where the children were found.

The TRC recommended an official apology from the state, restoration of the victims' honor, and recovery of their identities and family relationships. The Hyeongje Bokjiwon incident involved the forced confinement of people labeled as vagrants by public authorities such as the police in the 1970s and 1980s at the Hyeongje Bokjiwon, a private social welfare institution operated in Busan.

The TRC also additionally confirmed human rights violations against 70 victims in the Samcheong Education Camp case. Furthermore, it revealed that during the martial law period in 1980, the imprisonment of Hwang, a public official of Iri City Hall, for one year on charges of violating the Anti-Communism Law and Martial Law was based on torture and evidence fabrication by the Central Intelligence Agency.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.