The Korean government laws that took away the families from children…Zero adoption since the new policy began.
South Korea's new state-led adoption system has resulted in
zero children being placed in homes eight months after its implementation.
Approximately 270 children are currently waiting to be adopted in the system,
with critics arguing administrative bottlenecks at the National Center for the
Rights of the Child (NCRC) that are hindering the adoption process.
On July 19, 2025, all adoption duties and processes were
taken over by the NCRC, a government arm under the Ministry of Health and Welfare
(MOHW). Before that, the Private Adoption System under the civilian agencies
such as Holt, Eastern, SWS, and a few others were handling all the adoption
procedures from locating children that need homes, recruiting potential
adoptive families, home study and screening, adoption education, matching the
children with appropriate families, providing post-adoption services and finalization
of the adoptions.
When the NCRC took over, the private adoption system was
replaced with Public Adoption System under the "Special Act on
Domestic Adoption," placing the state in full charge of the adoption
operations and processes. This was the result of the current political climate
in Korea, in that the country is moving gradually away from the Democratic nation
to a Socialistic nation. It was common to
hear people making the statement, “The government must take charge and take responsibility”.
This was not only on adoption, but for all segments of social services. That just about everything is government's responsibility.
Another reason for the change was that the private agencies received a lot of criticism regarding lack of transparency and accountability. Over the years, there has been much pressure by anti-adoption individuals and organizations that have heavily conducted anti-adoption campaigns through media that put much pressure on the government to change the adoption laws with the main purpose of shutting down the intercountry adoption. The government later stated that all intercountry adoption would end by 2029.
When the NCRC took over public adoption system, a national promise was given to strengthen accountability and transparency. They ran under the slogan, ‘For the Best Interest of the Child’. But so far it has resulted in the opposite. Some people have claimed that NCRC is committing outright human rights violation. That is, taking hostage of the children over perfecting their administrative processes that has delayed children being in homes. And the children are suffering.
Kim Ji-won (38), a resident of Daejeon, adopted her first child, Ji-woo (pseudonym, 4), in 2022. After deciding to adopt in 2019, Kim went through dozens of counseling sessions. With the help of a social worker assigned by a private adoption agency, she welcomed Ji-woo into her family—an experience that led her to think, "I want to adopt a second child."
However, when she
requested counseling through the NCRC’s public adoption system last
year, the response she received was simply an instruction to "submit the
application and wait for screening first." She stated, "I have waited
seven months since the transition to the public system last July, but I was
only told that the adoption progress status could not be disclosed."
On the 25th, Kim stood in front of the NCRC in Jongno-gu,
Seoul. She was there to voice her position on the adoption delays that have
occurred since the transition to the public system. Joining her were 12
adoption-related organizations, including the National Adoptive Family
Solidarity (Representative Oh Chang-hwa), the Parents' Solidarity for
Adoption Normalization (Representative Yoo Bo-yeon), and the Jusarang
Community (Pastor Lee Jong-rak of the Baby Box).
Pastor Lee, who spoke at the event, pointed out, "Since the transition to the new public system, the state has brought to a halt the time it takes for a child to reach a home." He added, "There is no standard processing deadline, and data regarding the reasons for matching delays and progress at each stage are not being disclosed."
Pastor Lee of the Baby Box speaks out in front of the group.
Mr. Oh Chang-hwa speaks as well. The big banner reads, 'The policy that kills the Golden Time for a child is a Human Rights Violation and it must end quickly."
Yet, eight months after the launch of this public system,
not a single child has been adopted to a home. Currently, 270 children are
waiting for parents, and 540 prospective adoptive families are spending their
time in frustration. Organizations claim that even the 18 children who have
been matched remain unable to be placed in homes due to the delay in the bureaucratic
system.
Before the public system, children and prospective adoptive
parents typically had their first meeting within two to three weeks of
matching, as children could be cared for in homes through "pre-adoption
foster care." Now, additional procedures, such as court-ordered temporary
custody decisions, are required. This has resulted in delays of at least seven
months.
The organizations expressed concern that these procedural
delays could directly impact infant development. Representative Oh Chang-hwa
added, "There is a 'Golden Time' for adoption. Attachment and bonding must
be formed in a home before 12 months of age, which is a critical period for
brain development. No matter how good a facility is, it is difficult to provide
the level of developmental stimulation that a home offers, and the risk of
developmental delay increases as time passes."
Many people showed up to voice against the current Public Adoption
System by the government.
People marching together with the message "Don't let the children wait in institutions nor foster care. Let them go home!" "Don't steal children’s' Golden Time due to bureaucracy"
When the protesting
group confronted NCRC with these issues, NCRC put out an official response that
54 children were placed into homes since the transition was completed on July
19, 2025. Hower, this was a false
statement as those adoption cases were already in process by the private
adoption agencies before the transition but closed shortly after the transition.
A protest gathering banner. "Don't let the bureucracy rob
the children of their Golden Time."
"Waiting
Families: 540, Waiting Children 270, Child Adopted: 0"
The protesting group emphasized that the NCRC must promptly establish a cooperative system with the private adoption agencies and improve matching methods that are causing bottlenecks throughout the adoption process. Furthermore, they urged for increased transparency in the operational process, such as setting standard processing deadlines for each stages in the adoption procedures.
A mother protests in front of the presidential Blue House, asking President Lee for help.
Another group of demonstrators at the city of Gwangju stated, "While
the administrative development time at the NCRC may stop, a child's time cannot be."
However, eight months since its implementation, not a
single child has been placed into a home.
The adoption bottleneck is not merely a delay; it is a clear
administrative failure.
The group stated that “Adoption is not
paperwork; it is life. For a child, adoption is not a policy; it is survival.”
For infants, especially before 12 months of age, is a
critical period for forming attachment and bonding and trust. Wasting this time
in the name of "system stabilization" is an infringement on
children's rights. The state must not experiment with children’s time under the
pretext of institutional transition.
A child’s life takes precedence over perfecting the
adoption manual or perfecting the administrative process. Adoption is not an
object for policy experimentation.
The Gwangju Citizens’ Solidarity and the Gwangju Adoptive
Family Group fully support the issues raised by adoption-related organizations
protesting the delay in the public adoption system and strongly demand the
following:
- Immediately
codify legal and administrative standard processing deadlines for adoption
procedures.
- Fully
disclose the reasons for matching delays and the status of progress at
each stage.
- Immediately
restore and establish a cooperative system with the former private adoption
agencies to receive expertise.
- Drastically
shorten the period for placement in homes by simplifying the court's
temporary foster care decision process.
- Conduct
an emergency inspection of the overall operation of the public adoption
system and present a concrete improvement roadmap to the public.
