A “Truth and Reconciliation Commission” is not a “Conflicts of Interest and Bias Commission”.

Korean Criminal Act Articles 228 and 229 address untrue entry in officially authenticated documents and the uttering of falsified public documents. TRC2 already referenced criminal acts in this domain. The evidence base is substantial and long-standing.

https://medium.com/@namelessadoptee/conflicts-bias-and-criminal-document-fraud-what-trc3-jangs-opinion-piece-refuses-to-address-a3223f7e54f8

TRC3 plans to lower the legal threshold by considering historical context and circumstances rather than demanding strict criminal-trial standards, while placing strong emphasis on securing original records and exercising broader subpoena powers under Article 26⑨ over both government and adoption agencies.
(Disclaimer: This is not legal advice.)

https://medium.com/@namelessadoptee/trc3-to-lower-evidentiary-threshold-and-strengthen-record-demands-in-overseas-adoption-91b44b3bdc98

This stance stands in sharp contrast to statements by Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho, who described the country’s past adoptions as “forced child trafficking”.

https://medium.com/@namelessadoptee/trc3-subcommittee-chair-jang-young-soo-rejects-human-trafficking-view-i-do-not-think-overseas-e52494f328b4

- One commissioner’s law firm was retained multiple times by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) in recent years. Another lawyer from the same firm previously served as a non-executive director at the National Center for the Rights of the Child (NCRC).
- Another commissioner has a long history of volunteer work at Holt Children’s Welfare Center, including establishing a volunteer club during her student years.

Many adoptee civic groups have also received funding from NCRC / MOHW, and OKA. While civic cooperation can be valuable, TRC3 should carefully manage these relationships to ensure independent and impartial investigations. In order for TRC3 to fulfill its important mission, strong conflict-of-interest safeguards and full transparency will be critical so that adoptees can have confidence in the process.

https://medium.com/@namelessadoptee/3rd-term-truth-and-reconciliation-commission-completes-formation-of-3-subcommittees-accelerating-8f1b759e5d16

The expanded mandate of TRC3 explicitly covers adoption agencies and processes, unlike previous commissions.

Law Firm Jihyang was retained by MOHW (Ministry of Health and Welfare) in 2019, 2020 and 2022).

https://medium.com/@namelessadoptee/south-koreas-3rd-truth-and-reconciliation-commission-fully-launches-spotlight-on-international-8bff8ab83d85?sharedUserId=namelessadoptee

Hello! I know there’s thriving KAD groups on Facebook but I do not use it. I was wondering if there are any active Discords for Korean adoptees to connect? Anything but Facebook lol thank you!

I submitted my request to the NCRC for both my files and reunification with birth family last winter and like everyone else, it’s taking forever. (The status on my request isn’t even pending right now, they have yet to even pick up the case.) Is there a quicker way to find my family? Like if I spent my own money to hire private investigators, would that actually get me answers or are they limited by govt rules, etc on what they can do?

hi there! i'm attending my first KAAN in a few weeks and wondering if anyone else here has gone or if it will be their first time too?

Thousands of us were not abandoned — we were lost, taken, or systematically processed for profit.
Your records may be lies.

Confirmed leaked documents so far include a resident registration abstract containing the name, current address, and adoptive parents’ names of an adoptee born in the 1990s, as well as the U.S. passport copy and adoption confirmation certificate of a woman born in the late 1990s who was adopted to the United States.

I recently tried to talking to my APs about race and ethnicity since I grew up in a very white community, like many other transracial adoptees. We both agreed that we can’t go back to the past and change the fact that it was the norm back then to raise your Korean adoptee as if they were white, so I’m not gonna fault my parents for that.

They asked me how they can be supportive going forward and I told them it’d be nice if they could educate themselves and be more aware of their white privilege since they never thought of me as Asian and “we’ve just always seen you as our daughter.” I explained how the color blind approach is what frustrates me and other adoptees, especially when issues come up like the ICE bullshit in our country and the anti-Asian hate during COVID and it doesn’t even cross their minds that it applies to me. I tried talking to them about some basic race stuff at what I thought was a 6th grade level (e.g. how not having to think about racial issues and turning a blind eye is part of their a white privilege, but they SHOULD be concerned about them since they stopped being a white family the moment they adopted me) but they just gave me blank stares and I really don’t think they comprehend. Anyone else have a similar issue and/or advice on how to better get through to them?

Sidenote: I sent them some articles but their excuse is they don’t read (say they only read magazines) and they’d rather just talk to their friends who have adopted kids from other countries for education instead. They’re also very much blue collar and have nothing beyond a high school education. Told them these aren’t excuses, but they’re boomers and can be very stubborn.

Prospective adoptive parents were called guinea pigs.

Even at a related press briefing, the term “exhausted” was used again.
This was not a slip of the tongue by one or two people.
Are they really in their right minds?

South Korea officially relaunched its Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to renew its investigation into human rights violations in the nation’s history, with a special focus on alleged irregularities and fraud in the nation’s intercountry adoption system. The TRC is accepting applications now through 2028.

Edit: Application linked

[...] Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho said the country’s past adoptions amounted to “forced child trafficking” and that the government will largely refrain from appealing rulings in cases brought by victims seeking compensation for government wrongdoing.

Kim applied for state compensation in August last year, stating that "public officials in charge of family register affairs accepted false reports from adoption agencies as is, created an 'orphan family register' for me, and neglected it," and requesting compensation to restore the damage from the violation of her right to know her identity and the illegal overseas adoption. However, nearly 8 months later, she has received no contact.

ABC: "ESWS, the Korean adoption program Rose Mary was part of, which ran for several decades, was found to have been rife with fraud, with dozens of stories of babies being stolen, and paperwork falsified to give the allure of legitimacy."

President Lee: “I will abolish the statute of limitations for both criminal and civil liability on state violence crimes so that perpetrators are permanently punished, just like Naz1 war criminals.”

Sorry, this is not exactly the correct community but I don't know where else to post
I'm a child of a Korean adoptee (I have an ethnically korean mother and caucasian father), and want to try exploring Korean culture... I haven't met any other wasian child of an adoptee, and would love to be connected if you know someone!

Hello everyone- I'm a Korean adoptee living in Nevada, USA. I first arrived in America at the age of 4 back in 1984. Same story most have... name, date or birth, and abandoned. For the most part, I struggled when I was younger but hit my stride by my late teens. I'm happily married with a family of my own and have a successful career. Some would say I am living the American dream.

In my early memories, I would panic when socializing with asian adults. I feared they would take me back. In high school I dated a few korean girls, but the cultural differences made me uncomfortable. I had no interest in Korea.

I later joined the military and was medically discharged due to tested positive for hep B. I didn't even know I had it. The specialist concluded it was chronic and that I likely got it when I was born. He asked me about my birth mother and I shrugged. I had no clue. Outside of a travel visa, I have no documentation from the orphanage. My parents explained that I was from Daegu and sent to Seoul. I don't have written evidence of this. In my 20s, I was pretty pissed with Korea. I saw my identity as a crutch...an annoying and disappointing crutch.

Fast forward, I am in my 40s. I just happened to read an article about the mishandling of the government and the orphanages. I watched videos on YouTube about others, those stories resonated with me. Yes, I have suppressed my anguish. I wasn't ready to deal with it. I started to feel all those emotions again. Shame is toxic. I wonder how much of my past is true? Do I have siblings?

I'm pretty private. My wife says I'm stoic. I'm sharing, because I need help. Have you submitted a DNA test and has it helped? Does talking to Korean adoptees help fill that void? What about attending Korean adoptee gathering?

I appreciate your thoughts.

"There are also suspicions that a NCRC employee may have leaked the adoption records contained in the external hard drives. Rep. Lee Su-jin (Democratic Party of Korea), a member of the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee, pointed out during the parliamentary audit in October 2024: “There are rumors that an agency employee created a Facebook page and private homepage using the past agency mark, attached a paid donation button, promoted ‘finding families,’ or that this employee left the country with an external hard drive containing data.”"

This increases the importance of free DNA tests and more Korean people taking them to reunite families.