By Jung Min-ho

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Advocacy group files petition seeking probe into rights violations during process

Korea’s move to bring its adoption process entirely under government control was promoted as a safeguard against the abuses that have long marred the country’s adoption system. Yet for many adoptees searching for their birth roots here, the change has sparked frustration, anxiety and skepticism over whether it will truly address decades of injustice.

Adoptees contend that the transition has been mishandled in ways that violate constitutional rights, restrict access to essential personal records and jeopardize the preservation of decades of adoption files.

Reflecting this concern, Emergency Action for Record Storage (EARS), an adoptee advocacy group, recently filed a petition with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea. The group alleges that the process involved unlawful rights restrictions and mishandling of sensitive adoption materials, and calls for an investigation and corrective recommendations.

This comes as the government-run National Center for the Rights of the Child (NCRC) ― now responsible for all adoption administration ― has begun transferring records to a temporary archival facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. This transition from private agencies to state management began on July 19.

Central to the petition is the NCRC’s announcement, made only on July 11, that it would suspend all adoption information disclosure requests between June 16 and Sept. 15, citing “administrative reorganization.” Advocates argue the timing and lack of prior notice have left many adoptees with no access to their identity documents for months.

These delays are not merely bureaucratic. Many overseas adoptees are now in their 40s to 60s, while their birth parents are elderly or in frail health. Missing even a brief opportunity to connect can have lasting consequences.

For some, this reality is already acutely felt. Lisa Chan, born in 1977 and adopted to the U.S. as an infant during Korea’s peak overseas adoption period, recently visited Korea for the first time with her adoptive family, determined to begin the search for her birth family. She left empty-handed. When she tried to register her DNA at a local police station ― a requirement for potential family matching ― she was turned away because the NCRC had stopped processing disclosure requests, according to Yang Jeong-eun, a lawyer who represents the group.

In the petition, obtained by The Korea Times, advocates say the disclosure moratorium amounts to a blanket ban on access to identity verification records. They assert the move lacks clear legal basis and directly breaches adoptee rights under Articles 10 and 21 of the Constitution, as well as the Special Adoption Act, which guarantees the right to know one’s origins.

The National Center for the Rights of the Child’s temporary archive facility houses adoption records in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, July 23. Yonhap

Another key complaint about the temporary storage facility is that it was originally used for food storage and not specifically designed for fragile documents. The location, an hour from central Seoul, complicates access for adoptees, especially those visiting from overseas and those with mobility challenges. Environmental controls to protect adoption documents, such as humidity systems, are inadequate, leading to the persistent risk of paper deterioration, water damage and mold.

In addition, despite a plan to set up a permanent facility by 2031, the NCRC currently has no clear timeline for the project. Many of those issues were brought up during a meeting held on Aug. 7, but NCRC officials repeatedly cited budget constraints and provided no concrete responses, said Mary Bowers, a representative of EARS.

“Real accountability requires documented timelines, concrete plans and verifiable action,” she told The Korea Times. “The public deserves regular updates and immediate publication of operational plans. Anything less undermines the law and the thousands of families whose histories hang in the balance.”

In the petition, adoptees criticized the Ministry of Health and Welfare for failing to supervise the NCRC during a two-year planning period for the handover ― a lapse they say made this disruption foreseeable and preventable.

While the adoption reform was promoted as a decisive break from Korea’s long-criticized “child export” model ― and a big step toward rebuilding trust with approximately 260,000 adoptees worldwide ― many remain deeply concerned and disappointed by how it has been handled so far.