South Korean Group Expands Investigation into Foreign Adoptions

South Korea's Truth and Reconciliation¹ Commission said last week it will investigate the cases of 237 more South Korean adoptees. The adoptees suspect their family history records were changed to make their adoptions³ possible in Europe and the United States.

The new cases in the investigation⁴ involve foreign adoptees in 11 nations. All involve adoptions that took place between 1960 and 1990.

More than 370 adoptees from Europe, North America, and Australia registered applications last year demanding that their cases be investigated.

The commission said last December it would investigate the first 34 cases. It noted⁵ that the records of many adoptees sent to the West had clearly been changed. It said the records falsely described the adoptees as being orphans⁶, or not having living parents. It also said the records falsified their identities.

The commission said most of the applicants⁷ claim their adoptions were based on falsified records meant to make their adoptions possible.

Some applicants asked the commission to look into abuses they say they experienced at South Korean orphanages⁸ or under the care of their foreign adoptive parents.

Of the 271 cases accepted by the commission so far, 141 are those of Danish adoptees. They include members of the Danish Korean Rights Group. Other cases include 28 U.S. adoptees and 21 Swedish adoptees, officials said.

The commission is examining the applications in the order they were registered. Officials have said it is likely to investigate the remaining 101 cases, too.

History of adoptions

About 200,000 South Koreans were adopted by parents in Western countries over the past 60 years. They are believed to be the world's largest group of foreign adoptees.

Most were placed with white parents in the United States and Europe during the 1970s and 1980s. During that time, South Korea was ruled by back-to-back military dictatorships. The military government focused on policies meant to increase economic growth. The government saw adoption² as a way to reduce the number of people to feed, remove the "social problem" of unmarried mothers, and deepen ties with the democratic West.

The military government created special laws aimed at increasing foreign adoptions. Those laws let adoption agencies get around widely accepted child relinquishment¹⁰ practices. To relinquish⁹ in this case means to give up possession or control of something.

Most adoptees were registered by agencies as orphans found abandoned on the streets, even if they had family members who could have been easily identified. That practice has made it hard for South Korean adoptees to know their roots, or family history.

It was not until 2013 that South Korea's government required foreign adoptions to go through family courts. The change ended a long policy that permitted agencies to control child relinquishments and international adoptions.

Words in This Story

adopt – v. to take a child of other parents legally as your own child

apply – v. to ask formally for something (such as a job, admission to a school, or a loan) usually in writing

focus – v. to cause (something, such as attention) to be directed at something specific

abandon – v. to leave and never return to (someone who needs protection or help)

1 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

2 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

3 adoptions   

n.采用，收养( adoption的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Adoption agencies are always so open to alternative family adoptions. 领养中介机构永远都对领养家庭敞开。 来自电影对白
• The number of adoptions has grown in the past year. 去年，收养子女的数字增加了。 来自互联网

4 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 orphans   

孤儿( orphan的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The poor orphans were kept on short commons. 贫苦的孤儿们吃不饱饭。
• Their uncle was declared guardian to the orphans. 这些孤儿的叔父成为他们的监护人。

7 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。

8 orphanages   

孤儿院( orphanage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It is Rotarians running orphanages for children who have no homes. 扶轮社员们为没有家的孩子办孤儿院。
• Through the years, she built churches, hospitals and orphanages. 许多年来，她盖了一间间的教堂、医院、育幼院。

9 relinquish   

v.放弃，撤回，让与，放手

参考例句：

• He was forced to relinquish control of the company.他被迫放弃公司的掌控权。
• They will never voluntarily relinquish their independence.他们绝对不会自动放弃独立。

10 relinquishment   

n.放弃；撤回；停止

参考例句：

• One kind of love is called relinquishment. 有一种爱叫做放手。
• Our curriculum trains for the relinquishment of judgment as the necessary condition of salvation. 我们的课程则训练我们把放弃判断作为得救的必需条件。