On December 9, 2022, the AUSKRG (Australia – United States Korean Rights Group) submitted an application to South Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, accompanied by multiple individual cases. The AUSKRG joins the Danish Korean Rights Group’s (DKRG) spearheading efforts to have Korea’s overseas adoption system investigated by the Commission for suspected irregularities and human rights violations.

On June 8, 2023, AUSKRG cases were added to the Commission’s investigation, which now encompasses all four Korean adoption agencies (Holt, Korea Social Service, Eastern Social Welfare Society, & Social Welfare Society). The AUSKRG has strong reasons to suspect that Eastern, a private agency authorized by the Korean government to facilitate adoptions, has engaged in unethical practices which have significantly impacted many members of our group. These include, but are not limited to:

• Being falsely identified as orphans on official documents despite having living parents.
• Being sent overseas with the identity and paperwork of another child, later resulting in incorrect family reunions.
• Discovering that our Korean families were deceived by Eastern and/or did not provide consent for the adoption.

The AUSKRG collects and shares resources within adoptee communities and supports the Commission’s investigation.