Blue House Holds First Meeting of Overseas Adoptees Subcommittee to Restore Rights of 168,000 Overseas Korean Adoptees

Whole-of-government response launched
Reviews requests involving adoption records and searches for birth families
Discusses implementation of recommendations for remedies for past human rights violations

The government has launched a whole-of-government response to restore the rights of and provide support for more than 168,000 overseas Korean adoptees estimated to be living around the world. The move is intended both to strengthen the state’s responsibility for human rights violations that occurred during past overseas adoption processes and to coordinate, across government, matters previously handled separately by different ministries, including adoption record management, restoration of nationality, and searches for birth families.

The Cheong Wa Dae held the first meeting of the Overseas Adopted Koreans Subcommittee under the Diaspora Policy Task Force, chaired by Lim Woongsoon, Second Deputy Director of the National Security Office, on the 11th. (Photo source: Cheong Wa Dae)

The Blue House announced that it held the first meeting of the Overseas Adoptees Subcommittee under the Compatriot Policy Task Force on November 11, 2026, chaired by Im Woongsoon, Second Deputy Director of the National Security Office. The meeting was attended by relevant agencies, including the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the National Police Agency, and the Overseas Koreans Agency.

The meeting focused on shifting the handling of issues concerning overseas Korean adoptees, which had previously been scattered across individual ministries, to a whole-of-government cooperation system. Participants comprehensively reviewed the status of major requests, including difficulties adoptees face when verifying their birth and adoption histories or searching for birth families, as well as matters involving restoration of nationality, support for settling in Korea, and identity recovery.

In particular, the government reviewed follow-up measures at the national level regarding human rights violations that occurred during past overseas adoption processes. In March 2025, the Second Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Republic of Korea found that human rights violations had occurred during overseas adoption processes and that the state had failed to properly manage and supervise them. It recommended an official apology, remedies for victims, and improvements to the system for providing adoption information, among other measures. The meeting discussed the status of implementation of the recommendations and the need for further institutional improvements.

The launch of this consultative body is also significant in that it translates the government’s acknowledgment of responsibility and apology regarding overseas adoption issues into concrete policies. The government laid the institutional groundwork for strengthening state oversight of intercountry adoption and protecting children through the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, which entered into force on October 1, 2025.

President Lee also said on Facebook on October 2, 2025, “On behalf of the Republic of Korea, I offer my sincere apology and words of comfort to the overseas adoptees, their families, and their families of origin who have suffered.” He has since reaffirmed his commitment to continued attention and support for overseas Korean adoptees through a written congratulatory address to the World Korean Adoptee Gathering in May 2026 and meetings with overseas Koreans during visits to Europe and G7 countries in June 2026.

The Blue House’s Compatriot Policy Task Force is a consultative body established to address issues that individual ministries may struggle to resolve, based on a comprehensive survey of requests from overseas Korean communities around the world. The government plans to continue monitoring progress on major improvement measures and strengthen cooperation among relevant agencies. Deputy Director Im said, “Starting with today’s meeting, we will continue to monitor progress on major improvement measures and expand support so that overseas Korean adoptees can go a step beyond finding their roots and take their place as part of the overseas Korean community.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.