Where can I find Korea's Truth and Reconciliation report on Human Rights Violations in Intercountry Adoption?

Content note: This report contains descriptions of abuse and human rights violations that some readers may find distressing. TRC report on Human Rights Violations in Intercountry Adoption (dated March 25, 2025) is available at https://www.jinsil.go.kr/en/nac/selectNoticeDetail.do?bbsId=BBSMSTR_000000000723&nttId=326600

How do I submit my case to Korea's Truth and Reconciliation Commission?

You can submit your application through the Guide to Application and Submission at https://www.jinsil.go.kr/en/nac/selectNoticeDetail.do?bbsId=BBSMSTR_000000000723&nttId=326814 or through your nearest Embassy or Consulate. For applicants located in Korea, you can submit your application to the TRC at: 진실화해를위한과거사정리위원회 서울특별시 중구 퇴계로 173 남산스퀘어빌딩 5층 04554

How do I request my original adoption records?

As of July 19, 2025, all Korean adoptions, both domestic and international, are now supervised by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW). Physical adoption files are now held by the National Center for the Rights of the Child (NCRC). You can submit an Adoptee Information Disclosure Request at https://www.kadoption.or.kr/home/eng/contents.do?menuPos=7

How do I submit my DNA to find biological relatives?

Content note: This process involves records that may contain falsified or missing information about your origins and birth family. You have two options: Option 1 - Korean National Police (in Korea only) by contacting your nearest precinct. Option 2 - National Center for the Rights of the Child (in Korea or abroad) through an Adoption Information Disclosure Request and DNA testing through the NCRC at https://www.kadoption.or.kr/home/eng/contents.do?menuPos=11

Nearly 250,000 South Korean children were adopted to the West as “orphans” in the 60 years following the Korean War. Some to loving homes. Others to tragic ends. Raised in places where they looked like nobody else, many were told to forget their past and be grateful.

But the innate desire to understand where you came from has led many Korean adoptees to search for their roots. In the process, they discover lies in their past and families they never knew existed. In this documentary, correspondent Wei Du travels around the world to meet Korean adoptees and accompany a few on their journey to reclaim who they are. Together, they reveal how an “orphan rescue” mission separated families and erased the roots of hundreds of thousands.

One "Orphan" Every Hour
CNA Insider
August 30, 2025

Truth and Reconciliation Commission Chairperson Park Sun Young, right, comforts adoptee Yooree Kim during a press conference in Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. Ahn Young-joon/AP

South Korea says it sent babies abroad for adoption ‘like luggage’

The World from PRX
April 2, 2025

Since the end of the Korean War in the 1950s, South Korea provided an estimated 200,000 children for international adoptions. That’s believed to be more than any other country. But the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Korea now says the system was plagued with abuse and falsified information, and that it was driven by profits. The new report has been a long time coming for adoptees who have been pushing for more transparency.

Investigating South Korea's Fake orphans and sham adoptions

ABC News In-Depth • Foreign Correspondent
May 2, 2024

In the decades since the Korean war ended, 200,000 children have been adopted to families worldwide. Now as adults many adoptees are coming back, desperate for information about their birth parents and the circumstances of their adoptions.

This week on Foreign Correspondent reporter Mazoe Ford investigates the South Korean adoption system. Amidst claims of falsified documents, duplicate identities and even children stolen, she meets the adoptees on a mission to find the truth of the past.

A Most noble Search

Houston Culture Map
December 12, 2022

Mary Bowers is Houston's top-ranked competitive eater and a fixture on the Major League Eating circuit, including the Nathan's Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest on ESPN.

Away from the competition table, she is on a quieter mission — searching for her birth parents in Korea. A Colorado-raised adoptee, Mary is following the only leads she has: the details in her adoption file, and the hope that somewhere out there, her family is looking for her too.