South Korea's Sham Adoptions | Preview

In the decades since the Korean war ended, 200,000 children have been adopted to families worldwide. Now as adults many adoptees are coming back, desperate for information about their birth parents and the circumstances of their adoptions.
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[@katesmith5664]

I don't think this episode is recent event. Korea implemented strict rules for overseas adoption more than 30 years ago. Orphans and babies by foreign soldiers from the Korean War were the start of overseas adoption initially. The social taboo of children out of wedlock in conservative Confucianism was unacceptable in those days. Korea is changing so rapidly. The birth rate in South Korea plummeted to 0.8, and domestic adoption is very much a norm.

[@mathamour]

Many Koreans, myself included, can remember when this was a much bigger problem. Legal changes in recent years have helped, but there are still cases of babies being abandoned or adopted internationally. It's a strange situation - a wealthy, developed country like Korea shouldn't be sending more babies abroad than some developing nations.
Unveiling the underlying causes of this phenomenon demands a comprehensive approach. In the past, there were rampant cases of unscrupulous adoption agencies engaging in illicit activities, including the abduction of babies and the exportation of children overseas for financial gain. Thankfully, these illegal practices are mostly gone. However, Korea remains a very demanding place to raise children, especially for those struggling financially.

[@kylen4701]

Well that's fucked.