Ripped Roots: When Did The Korean Adoption System Cross From Rescue To Violation?

“Those who don't belong to any specific place can't return anywhere. The concepts of exile and return imply a point of origin, a homeland.” Jhumpa Lahiri writes in her novel “In Other Words,” This passage is relatable for many adoptees around the world, and for decades, thousands of Korean children who grew up away from their homeland felt it. They believed they were orphans, rescued from war, poverty, or abandonment by the Korean adoption system.

Western families adopted the lucky ones under the promise of a better life. But in 2025, the truth came to surface revealing that they weren't ever truly lost. In April 2025, South Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission released a sweeping report confirming what adoptees and birth families have quietly known for years. Instead of symbolizing humanitarian kindness, the country’s long-running overseas adoption program allowed fraud, coercion, and systemic neglect. But how did it happen and why?

Korean Adoption: A System Born From Crisis and Corrupted Over Time

The roots of the Korean adoption system trace back to as far as the 1880s. It was a period when the Western Christian missionaries first started their services of informal adoptions. They aimed to save children born to poor families, unwed mothers, or sex workers. While it did provided a new life to many, it uprooted many others from their families.

Today is Korean American Day – this year, let’s explore Korea’s history of adoption.

The US has the largest population of Korean adoptees worldwide. While adoption is often framed as an act of charity, it is a global industry that grew out of war, profit, and anticommunism. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/fv5jWApnL1

— Nodutdol | 노둣돌 (@nodutdol) January 13, 2023

The history repeated during Japan's colonization (1910–1945) and World War II. They split Korea into two rival states—North and South—as well as separated tiny fists from their families. The division of the nation set the stage for one of the world’s bloodiest conflicts: the Korean War (1950–1953), which killed over 3 million people and left at least 100,000 children orphaned. They required shelter, care, and love to heal their wounds, but South Korea lacked formal adoption laws and a welfare system.

The country was traumatized and impoverished, and many children born from oppressive crimes were considered socially undesirable. The mixed-race children, particularly those with Black fathers, were often targets of severe social rejection. Foreign missionaries and U.S. Christian charities like Holt International and World Vision stepped in, presenting adoption as a moral duty. But over time, the noble image gave way to something more exploitative.