More than 300 adoptees file complaints in Korea's renewed adoption probe

[2026/02/26] By The Korea Times

More than 300 overseas adoptees submitted complaints to Korea's truth-seeking body Thursday, marking the first wave of petitions in the renewed state probe into alleged misconduct in the nation's decades-long intercountry adoption program.

As the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) reopened its headquarters in Seoul's Jung District at 9 a.m., adoptees stepped forward as the first petitioners of the commission's third term.

Stacks of documents — including adoption records and applications from 311 adoptees — totaling roughly 50,000 pages were delivered in boxes and submitted to the commission.

The TRC, an independent state body mandated to investigate historical injustices, is set to revisit alleged misconduct in Korea's overseas adoption system, which sent roughly 200,000 babies and children abroad, mostly to Western countries, between the 1960s and 1980s.

For decades, adoptees and advocacy groups have argued that the government failed to adequately regulate adoption agencies and safeguard the rights of children, allowing abuses to occur with little oversight.

Thursday's launch of the third TRC came after the National Assembly revised the Framework Act on Settling the Past for Truth and Reconciliation in January, paving the way for the body's reestablishment.

According to KoRoot, a civic group supporting adoptees, adoptees from 15 countries, including Denmark, the United States, France, Norway and Sweden, have filed complaints with the newly established TRC. More are expected to join by filing through Korean embassies abroad.

The first case, which was designated "Case No. 1," was filed by Marrit Kim van der Staaij on behalf of her late mother, Kim Ji-mi, who was adopted to the Netherlands. Kim died by suicide in the late 2000s at age 38, when her daughter was 13.

Van der Staaij is seeking an investigation into allegations that her mother's birth records were intentionally falsified or deleted to facilitate her adoption.

"I stand here instead of my mother, and I'm using my voice that she cannot use anymore to find out the truth behind her adoption," she told The Korea Times. "I come here for justice for me, my family and other adoptees who are still alive."

Her mother was believed to have been sent abroad at about age 3. Although she received care and love from her adoptive family, she struggled throughout her life with the loss of her biological family, culture and identity — factors her daughter says weighed heavily on her.

Intercountry adoption is expected to be high on the agenda at the renewed TRC. The second commission, whose mandate ended last November, announced its first findings on overseas adoption cases, but resolved only 56 of the 367 complaints it received, leaving many adoptees dissatisfied.

The unresolved overseas adoption cases from the second commission will be transferred to the third commission. The 311 cases filed Thursday are new petitions that were not accepted during the previous term.

"Some of these documents filed today took up to a year to obtain from adoption agencies," said Peter Moller, an adoptee from Denmark who co-heads KoRoot. "It's a big relief and we are happy that we can go first in filing the cases because we were the group most impacted by the shutdown of TRC 2."

After submitting their cases, adoptees joined other groups representing victims of state violence in a joint press conference urging the swift appointment of the commission's chairperson.

Although the third TRC’s legal term has begun, a chairperson has yet to be appointed.

The 13-member panel, which reviews cases and makes final determinations on whether abuses constitute rights violations, includes a chair appointed by the president and members recommended by the National Assembly speaker, the ruling and opposition parties and minor parties.

Without a chairperson, the panel cannot be formed or hire investigators, delaying the commission's actual work.

"Until a chair is appointed and the hiring process for investigators begins, the probe cannot move forward, resulting in overall delays," a former official from the second TRC said on condition of anonymity. "The files submitted today will remain in cabinets for the time being."

 News from：The Korea Times