Hundreds of South Korean adoptees who were sent abroad from the 1960s to the 1990s are urging the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate further and uncover human rights violations in the country’s overseas adoption program.

Adoptees, along with domestic and foreign support organizations that filed complaints, held a press conference in front of the commission’s office in central Seoul on Thursday, calling on the fact-finding panel to conclude its review and reveal the full truth before its mandate expires May 26.

Stressing that a lack of adoption documents and background information for adoptees, in itself, is evidence of rights violations, they added that all 367 people who applied for a review of their adoption process should be given answers and allowed to see the results of the panel’s investigation. 

If the panel, the second of its kind, does not reach a conclusion before the deadline, they said a third truth commission should be established to continue the investigation.

Min Young-chang, head of the domestic Korean Adoptee Association, also urged the panel to seek help from the National Assembly if needed.

In 2022, a total of 375 South Korean adoptees in 11 countries, including the United States, Denmark and Sweden, filed petitions requesting an investigation into their adoption proceedings, which allegedly involved fraud and fabricated background records, among other wrongs.

After excluding withdrawn requests, the truth commission secured adoption records for 367 people and discovered human rights violations in 56 cases, leaving 311 cases unresolved.