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3d ago

South Korean Government Faces Lawsuit Over Decades of Adoption Abuses

Choi Young-ja, a 72-year-old mother, sues the government and Holt Children's Services for the illegal adoption of her son, as pressure mounts for accountability in South Korea's foreign adoption program.

FILE - Yooree Kim, who was 11 when she was sent by an adoption agency to a couple in France, sits for a portrait as tears well up in her eyes in her apartment in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
FILE - Truth and Reconciliation Commission Chairperson Park Sun Young, right, comforts adoptee Yooree Kim during a press conference in Seoul, South Korea, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)
FILE - Photos of Choi Young-ja's son, Paik Sang-yeol, who went missing in 1975, sit on a bed in her motel room in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, March 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)
FILE - Choi Young-ja holds a smartphone displaying a photo of her son, who went missing in 1975, as she sits in her motel room in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, March 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

Overview

  • Choi Young-ja alleges her son was adopted to Norway in 1975 without her consent, with Holt falsifying records to label him an abandoned orphan.
  • The Truth and Reconciliation Commission's March 2025 report found the South Korean government responsible for enabling systemic fraud in foreign adoptions.
  • Choi's lawsuit seeks damages for the government's failure to verify her son's status and notify her as his parent despite her immediate police report.
  • This is one of the first lawsuits by birth parents against the government and an adoption agency, signaling growing demands for accountability and reparations.
  • The government has yet to issue an official apology or act on the commission's recommendations, drawing criticism from adoptees and advocates.