I realize that I haven't shared for a long time the current adoption happenings in Korea. I apologize for the delay in providing the latest information. But to be frank, not much improvements or good news have been available to share.
It appears that the total number EPs granted for the year 2015 is going to be around 320 - 330. This is the combined total for all three agencies. This is consistent based on the projected domestic placements, which is around 440 for all three agencies. Again the '2/3' rule still in place. I need to revisit these numbers next year and give you more accurate count.
But the Family Court process is flowing smoothly with no issue so far. I'm told that the court process (from the time of the paper submission to the finalization) takes around 2 - 3 months nowadays.
Ever since the Special Adoption Law was placed, hundreds of babies are continuing to be abandoned, and frequent news stories of the babies being killed and discarded in Korea are still common place. There is some movement to revise the law to enable the agency heads to register for the babies being abandoned and make them available for at least the domestic adoption.
The number of children available for adoption is continuing to decline. While there are some factors to consider such as better sex education to avoid pregnancies, some unwed mothers choosing to keep their children, and many illegal internet adoptions, but I am quite positive that the greatest contributor to the reduction in the number of children is due to the sheer number of abortions taking place in Korea. While there is no definite data on this, many unwed mothers choose to abort their babies rather than face the complexity of registering their babies and face the risk of raising them in a society that does not embrace them well.