Save Young

Background

A brief history

South Korea became the world's largest source of children adopted abroad. Overseas adoption began after the Korean War and grew into a program that sent roughly 200,000 children to families overseas, many in the United States and Europe.

Through the decades, the system prioritized speed and cost. In March 2025, the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission found that the government itself had violated human rights, citing a cost-driven policy that treated overseas adoption as cheaper than building a domestic child welfare system, a focus on fast procedures over lawful ones, and the handing of authority to private agencies without adequate oversight.

Adoptees have since pressed for answers, many discovering falsified records, missing consent, and swapped identities. Their petitions, court cases, and advocacy have pushed the government into what is often called Korea's adoption reckoning, and the work is far from finished.

Key dates and legal steps

Key: Legal step Litigation History Looking ahead

  1. 1950s

    Overseas adoption begins History

    After the Korean War (1950–1953), South Korea begins sending children abroad for adoption, first children of mixed heritage born to Korean mothers and foreign soldiers.

  2. 1960s–1980s

    The program grows History

    Overseas adoption expands to children from families facing poverty, breakdown, or birth outside marriage. It peaks in the 1980s at more than 6,000 children a year. Roughly 200,000 children are placed abroad over the decades.

  3. August 5, 2012

    Special Adoption Law takes effect Legal step

    Adoptions must now be approved by the Family Court, replacing the old system of simple registration with local governments.

  4. August 2022

    Adoptees petition the commission Legal step

    53 adoptees from the Danish Korean Rights Group ask the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate their adoptions. Applications later grow to nearly 400 adoptees from eight countries.

  5. December 2022

    Investigation begins Legal step

    The commission announces that it will begin its initial inquiry into the adoptees' applications.

  6. January 2025

    Court ruling in the Crapser case Litigation

    The Seoul High Court overturns a 2023 ruling and clears the government and Holt Children's Services of liability in the lawsuit brought by adoptee Adam Crapser, who was deported from the United States.

  7. March 26, 2025

    Commission finds human rights violations Legal step

    The commission concludes that the government violated human rights in connection with overseas adoption. It confirms violations in 56 of the 367 adoptee cases it reviewed, including falsified documents, missing parental consent, and cases of child switching.

  8. April 2025

    Investigation halted Legal step

    The commission stops its adoption investigation after internal disputes over which cases to recognize.

  9. May 2025

    Birth parents sue Litigation

    Birth parents file what are reported to be the first known lawsuits by birth parents against the government and an adoption agency, over adoptions they say were carried out without their consent.

  10. July 2025

    New adoption laws Legal step

    New laws on domestic and intercountry adoption give national and local governments greater responsibility for the adoption process.

  11. October 1, 2025

    Hague Adoption Convention Legal step

    South Korea becomes a member of the Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption.

  12. October 2025

    Presidential apology History

    President Lee Jae Myung issues a rare apology for rights abuses in past intercountry adoptions.

  13. November 2025

    Second commission ends Legal step

    The commission's mandate ends with more than 2,100 complaints unresolved.

  14. December 2025

    Plan to phase out foreign adoption Legal step

    The government announces plans to phase out intercountry adoptions by 2029.

  15. January 2026

    Commission's powers expanded Legal step

    A new law expands the investigative mandate of the incoming commission.

  16. February 26, 2026

    Third commission opens Legal step

    The third Truth and Reconciliation Commission begins accepting applications. It inherits 311 submissions from Western adoptees that were deferred or incompletely reviewed.

  17. February 25, 2028

    Application deadline Looking ahead

    The last day to submit an application to the third commission.

Building a database of cases

Save Young is seeking to create a database of cases of illegal adoption practices, so that patterns can be documented and survivors' stories can support accountability.

As our organization expands, we will look to create a database of cases covering illegal adoption practices across the globe.

Sources

Dates are drawn from the reporting above and may be updated as events develop. This page is general background, not legal advice.