South Korea relaunches truth commission to probe foreign adoption fraud

South Korea has relaunched its Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate historic human rights abuses, placing a central focus on widespread foreign adoption fraud that tainted the nation’s intercountry adoption program for decades. The commission, the third of its kind, began accepting new complaints on Feb. 26, 2026 , inheriting more than 2,100 unresolved cases from the previous inquiry, including 311 deferred submissions by overseas adoptees .

On the first day, more than 300 adoptees from around the world , especially Denmark and the United States , filed petitions with stacks of documents roughly 50,000 pages — demanding truthful investigations into alleged malpractices in their adoptions. The first submitted case, labelled “ Case No. 1 ,” seeks answers about alleged falsification of birth records used to facilitate overseas placement.

Past inquiries found that private agencies, often working with government indifference, routinely falsified identities , listed children as abandoned when they had living relatives, and switched identities to satisfy Western demand practices that many adoptees describe as being sent abroad “like luggage.”

A 2025 interim report by the previous commission concluded the government bears responsibility for enabling a program riddled with fraud and abuse . That report prompted a rare official apology from President Lee Jae‑myung and a pledge to phase out foreign adoptions by 2029 .

The new commission has broader powers than its predecessor, including authority to seek search warrants when evidence is withheld, and will also investigate abuses such as civilian killings during the Korean War and repression under military rule . However, it cannot begin substantive investigations until a chairperson is appointed and teams are formed , a process likely taking several months.