South Korea Truth Commission releases further findings on 1980s shelter abuses and forced adoptions News
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South Korea Truth Commission releases further findings on 1980s shelter abuses and forced adoptions

The South Korean Truth Commission announced further findings this Monday on the human rights violations in the country’s adult homeless detention facilities, including the Seoul Metropolitan Rehabilitation Center in the 1980s.

During the 86th Committee on September 6, the Second Truth and Reconciliation Commission undertook a full-scale investigation into the experiences of 13 applicants who had been admitted to four homeless facilities: Chungnam Cheonseongwon (Seongjiwon, Yangjiwon), Daegu Metropolitan Hope Center, Gyeonggi Seonghyewon and Seoul Metropolitan Rehabilitation Center. The investigation revealed potential government responsibility behind the human rights breaches that had occurred within the four facilities and the forced adoptions.

Violations at the four facilities involved forced detention, assault and cruel treatment, forced labour and “revolving door admission,” whereby inmates were transferred to various facilities against their will. The majority of patients had been transferred to other facilities from or after being released from the Brothers Welfare Centre, which was subject to a police investigation in 1987 for human rights violations including the death of 513 individuals from 1975-1986. Furthermore, investigations revealed the nonconsensual donation of bodies to a local medical school for anatomy practices from 1982-1992. The donations amounted to 97 percent of the bodies used at the medical school.

The report also highlights the non-compliance of the consent process with Article 4 of the Hague Adoption Convention for children born in the facilities. The convention requires the due consideration of a “child’s best interest” and the free consent of the mother to put the child up for adoption “only after the birth of the child.” Children born in the facilities were transferred to adoption agencies for overseas adoption purposes. While the facilities’ records do point to some mothers providing consent for adoption, other records evince the forced nature of the consent process prior to giving birth. Some mothers who refused to provide consent were categorized as having mental problems and incompetent to provide childcare. 

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established as an independent investigative body under the Basic Act on Settling Past Events for Truth and Reconciliation 2020. The Commission has jurisdiction to investigate various historical events, including severe human rights breaches during the authoritarian rule of the 1980s.

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