[Forgotten Children]②Adoptee Rights Overseas: Steps Forward After 70 Years

Push for Amendment to Guarantee the “Right to Know” for Overseas Adoptees
Objections and Legal Action Allowed Even in “Non-Disclosure” Decisions
Government’s Alternative: “Domestic Adoption”… Declaration of “Zero” Overseas Adoptions
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The issue of guaranteeing adoptees' right to know their origins is only now being discussed, 70 years after the government's proposal and 65 years since the enactment of the Special Act on Orphan Adoption.

According to The Asia Business Daily's report on March 30, Kim Yeji, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee from the People Power Party, sponsored an amendment to the "Special Act on Domestic Adoption" last month. The bill would require written notification of the progress of adoption information disclosure requests and reasons for any extension of the processing period, and would clarify the scope of information that can be disclosed regardless of the birth parents’ consent.

This reflects concerns that the right to know is being violated when consent cannot be obtained due to the birth parents being unreachable or deceased, leaving adoptees unable to access their information. Notably, the amendment allows objections and administrative litigation against decisions to partially disclose or not disclose adoption information. This amendment will also be applied to overseas adoptees in accordance with the "Act on Intercountry Adoption."

In line with President Lee Jaemyung's declaration of "zero overseas adoptions by 2029," the government has begun formulating a mid- to long-term plan to promote domestic adoption. Authorities are reviewing factors that hinder domestic adoption, such as medical and caregiving burdens, child-rearing environments, and institutional requirements. They are also assessing the anticipated number of children likely to depend on overseas adoption, in order to analyze the impact of gradually phasing out overseas adoption. This analysis includes reviewing the size and sources of funding. Once detailed measures are established, advisory panels for each area will be convened to identify key issues in both domestic and international adoption policies and set out future tasks.

However, concerns persist. Since the introduction of the "public adoption system" in July last year, aimed at revitalizing domestic adoption and strengthening government responsibility, domestic adoption has become even more stagnant due to bottlenecks in the administrative process.

This is largely due to the surge in applications at the outset of the public adoption system and the increased number of procedures. To enhance transparency, the Adoption Policy Committee is conducting comprehensive vetting of all prospective adoptive parents through external experts, but there is a significant shortage of personnel. As of the end of March, 276 children were waiting to be adopted, while there were 585 prospective adoptive families. Given that the number of adoptions approved in 2025 is expected to total 126 (102 domestic and 24 overseas), it appears that children will have to wait even longer in facilities.

The National Adoption Family Alliance has criticized the government for its administrative failure, pointing out that the current issues were not anticipated despite a two-year preparation period before the full implementation of the public adoption system. As a result, 24 children were sent overseas for adoption last year.

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