Five women holding framed photos of smiling children wiped away tears as they were given carnations. The people who pinned carnations on their chests were not the children in the photos. One woman wailed, “I am sorry, Mom. If only I had not believed those people and had looked for you.”

The civic group ‘TRACE Coalition for Truth-finding on Overseas Adoption and Children’s Rights’ held a press conference on the afternoon of the 8th in front of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in Jung-gu, Seoul, and announced that it had applied to the TRC for truth-finding regarding five birth mothers of overseas adoptees. They said, “The methods differedabduction, seizure by relatives, forged documents, deceit about a newborn’s death, and unauthorized adoption processingbut the endings were the same,” adding, “Mothers lost their children, the children lived their whole lives believing they had been abandoned, and some met a tragic death.” The group had already applied to the TRC in March for truth-finding regarding overseas adoptees.

The stories of the five birth mothers vary. Lee Gwi-im lost her husband in the 1980 Gwangju Democratization Movement, and in 1983, due to financial hardship, temporarily entrusted her two sons, then ages seven and five, to a childcare facility in Mokpo. She said, “After three months I went to Mokpo, and they said the children had gone to Jeonju. Then they said they went to the Holt Children’s Welfare Association, but when I went to Holt, they said the children had already left for France and were gone,” adding, “I understand they are now in Paris, France. Even if we meet, we will not share a language, but I only hope they live well.” According to the group, the adoption agency at the time sent the children for adoption without the birth mother’s consent; the papers bore the mother’s signature, but the documents were forged.

Kim Eun-sun’s son, Jeon Sun-hak, went missing in Jeonju in 1976, and the adoption agency later gave him another name and sent him to the United States for adoption. Kim said, “Who abandons a child? I would never abandon mine,” adding, “I found my child, but because we cannot communicate, it is painful, and I cry on holidays or Parents’ Day.” Kim met her son Jeon once last year.

In the case of Lee Aerirana, she received a false notice in 1993 that her child had died; ten years later she learned that her daughter, Park Mi-ae, had been adopted to the United States. After conflict with her adoptive family and a period of homelessness, Park ended her life in 2023, the day after she restored her Korean surname ‘Park (PARK)’. Lee said, “My daughter searched, right up to the very last moment, to find her roots,” adding, “I asked for the adoption process to be traced, but the government refused to disclose the records, saying there was no legal basis.” She added, “This is a death produced by illegal adoption.”

Attorney Park Min-jeong (Wongok Law Firm), representing them, said, “The government and local governments, which have a duty to oversee and supervise, are taking no action regarding overseas adoptions carried out with false papers,” adding, “Mothers who lost their children without even knowing it thus became victims of state violence, yet the state has made no apology to this day.”

In a statement, they said, “Korea thoroughly turned its back on the right of mothers and children to be together,” and, “We demand truth-finding regarding illegal overseas adoptions carried out under the state’s acquiescence and through false documentation by adoption agencies such as the Holt Children’s Welfare Association and the Eastern Social Welfare Society.” They continued, “Guarantee immediate access to records for all overseas adoptees who cannot view their adoption files, and we urge an official apology and compensation from the Korean government to the victimized mothers and overseas adoptees.”

The TRC said that on this day, Chairperson Song Sang-gyo met with them and heard opinions regarding truth-finding on overseas adoptions and support for victims.