Denmark’s Ministry of Social Affairs has released a report revealing that Korean adoptions were subject to “systematic illegal conduct” on the Korean side. The report, which focuses on the period from January 1, 1970 to December 31, 1989, was released on Thursday.
The report regrets the lack of appropriate regulation and its impact on foster children, stating:
Insufficient regulation of the mediation system and Korean household registration rules prevented Korean institutions from changing the identity or background of adopted children listed in official Korean documents or information contained in cases sent to Korea. There was room. About Danish children.
As reported by the Associated Press, the Danish Appeals Board, which is responsible for overseeing foreign adoptions, added that a further aspect of the illegal activity was the exchange of large sums of money between organizations in the countries (AP ).
The report tracks several issues raised by Korean rights groups in Denmark, which welcomed the report but said it did not go far enough. In an official statement, a Korean rights group in Denmark claimed:[the] The report of the Danish Board of Appeal also paints a highly flawed picture of the role of the Danish state and Danish authorities, stating that it makes no mention of the adoption procedure in Denmark and that It does not even mention any acts or omissions.
Han Bun-young, from the Danish Korean Rights Group, told The Associated Press that there is a need for an independent investigation “where those responsible will ultimately be held accountable for their actions.”
During the period covered by the report, 7,220 children were adopted. Three institutions were evaluated. DanAdopt, AC Boernehjaelp, Terres des Hommes. The report revealed that the first two agencies had knowledge of the practice of changing information about children. Since then, steps have been taken to address the problems arising from allowing private institutions to process adoptions, and in 2013 the city of Seoul made it mandatory for foreign adoptions to be processed in family courts. Ta.