An investigation by South Korea's Truth and Reconciliation Commission turned up evidence that women were coerced into surrendering their infants for international adoption after delivering their babies at government-run facilities between the 1960s and 1980s. The report highlights the involvement of these facilities in extensive human rights abuses, including forced labor and physical violence, during South Korea's era of military rule. These findings follow earlier revelations about similar abuses at the Brothers Home compound in Busan.
The report release Monday noted at least 20 adoptions occurred from Daegu's Huimangwon and South Chungcheong's Cheonseongwon in 1985 and 1986; the commission suggested that many adoptions were arranged before the children's birth, and that in some cases, the mothers were pressured into agreeing. Investigator Ha Kum Chul said those newborns were sent to Holt Children's Services or Eastern Social Welfare Society and then placed in the United States, Denmark, Norway, and Australia. "It's difficult to accurately determine how many more adopted children there might have been in other years," Ha added, citing staff limitations.
The commission's investigation uncovered related human rights violations at the four facilities it looked into; all housed people who were swept up in government roundups designed to beautify the streets. These institutions, which handled thousands of inmates, including street children, homeless individuals, and disabled people, were characterized by severe mistreatment and high death rates. During the 1970s and '80s, South Korea's then-military leaders viewed adoptions as a way to bolster economic growth by reducing the number of mouths to feed and deal with the "social problem" of unwed mothers. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP)
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