South Korea admits to 'mass export' of children for adoption, at least 170,000 sent abroad
　　Recently, the South Korean Truth and Reconciliation Commission released a heavyweight report after two years of investigation, revealing that the South Korean government has condoned the systematic trafficking of children by private institutions in the name of transnational adoption for decades. The investigation shows that between the 1960s and the 1990s, at least 170,000 Korean children were sent to European and American countries, and the operation chain behind it was full of forged documents, illegal fees, identity tampering and other shady dealings.
　　The report pointed out that under the protection of special legislation, more than 300 private adoption agencies have turned child trafficking into a "profiteering industry."The agency "produces" children to be adopted on demand every month, evades supervision by forging "abandoned baby certificates" and fabricating children's identities, and even requires adoptive families to pay high "donation fees." Due to the widespread falsification of documents, many adoptees are now in a dilemma of having no way to find their relatives.
　　"This is essentially child trafficking acquiesced by the government." Park Sun-young, chairman of the committee, said bluntly at the press conference.
　　The survey showed that 52% of adoption files had forged birth certificates, and 34% of cases involved biological mothers being forced to sign documents. In 1968, an institution even tampered with the identity of a 3-year-old child as a "17-year-old orphan" to circumvent the adoption age limit.
　　The trauma caused by the system continues. Kim Mi-sun, 48, complained to the media that her Dutch adoptive parents "treat dogs more attentively than me."The 56 cases of violations confirmed by the investigation included domestic violence, forced labor, sexual abuse, etc. suffered by the adoptees.
　　The report recommends that the South Korean government should formally apologize for this "institutional criminal history" and establish a transnational adoption traceability mechanism