8 Months of Government-Led Adoption Performance: 270 Waiting Children, 540 Waiting Families, 0 (ZERO) Adoptions

 The Korean government laws that took away the families from children…Zero adoption since the new policy began.

12 different adoption-related organizations have gathered to protest to NCRC for Zero domestic adoption in eight months after taking over the adoption duties in Korea. Pictured are Pastor Lee of the Baby Box and Mr. Oh Chang-hwa of the National Adoptive Family Solidarity, Yoo bo-yeon of the Parents' Solidarity for Adoption Normalization, and others.

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:

1. Immediately codify legal and administrative standard processing deadlines for adoption procedures.
2. Fully disclose the reasons for matching delays and the status of progress at each stage.
3. Immediately restore and establish a cooperative system with the former private adoption agencies to receive expertise.
4. Drastically shorten the period for placement in homes by simplifying the court's temporary foster care decision process.
5. Conduct an emergency inspection of the overall operation of the public adoption system and present a concrete improvement roadmap to the public.