By Jane Jeong Trenka, TRACK President

Concluding Observations on the Republic of Korea’s implementation of The United Nations on the Convention on the Rights of the Child were released Oct. 6, suggesting a raft of improvements to protect the rights of South Korea’s children.

South Korea’s child adoption system was highlighted at the 58th session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, as the ROK has yet to withdraw its reservations to article 21 paragraph (a) of the international treaty. The article ensures that adoptions are handled by a competent authority with the best interests of the child as the paramount consideration. The Committee also advised Korea to ratify the 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in respect of Inter-country Adoption.

In addition, the committee recommended a host of other actions related to adoption pertaining to single unwed mothers, the birth registration system, and the central adoption authority.

Along with my fellow Truth and Reconciliation of the Adoption Community of Korea (TRACK) members Ross Oke and Greg Pena-Rodriguez, I had the oppportunity to attend the plenary session of the UN CRC on Sept. 21 in Geneva. The recommendations are a response to questions asked on that day, as well as the ROK’s country report, which is submitted every five years, and reports submitted by NGOs such as ours. We were pleased to see that long-standing problems that we have been raising, which have been swept under the rug by the Korean government for too long, were recognized as serious problems by the international community.

For instance, the U.N. recognized single mothers as a population needing adequate support and protection from discrimination through awareness-raising and public education campaigns, and expressed regret that the draft Anti-discrimination Act was discarded without consideration at the National Assembly in December 2007.

Since the 1990s, over 90% of children sent for adoption have been the children of unwed single mothers.

Korea’s birth registration system, which takes place at municipal city offices instead of hospitals, was noted as a factor that allows single mothers’ children to be adopted without proper judicial oversight and without accurately indicating the biological parents. The committee noted that the “lack of measures to prevent birth registration of children by third persons could result in these children being subject to sale.”

In addition, the committee noted that the birth registration system is not practically or consistently available for persons in refugee, asylum-seeking or irregular migration situations.

The committee expressed concern over “The fact that the overwhelming majority of children born to single adolescent mothers are given up for adoption and that the parent(s) or legal guardian(s) of single adolescent mothers are allowed to authorise the release of their children for adoption in absence of their consent”. It recommended that the ROK “Ensure that the consent of single adolescent mothers is mandatory for the release of their children for adoption and that they are provided with conditions that ensure that such consent is not obtained under de facto or actual duress.”

The Committee also recommended upgrades to Korea Central Adoption Resources (KCARE), which was designated as the ROK’s central authority on adoption through a revision to the Special Adoption Law in June 2011.

In order for KCARE to “effectively perform its role and function in accordance with article 6 of the Hague Convention,” the committee recommended that the government “define a clear mandate, with adequate human, technical and financial resources.”

Regarding currently processed adoptions, the committee expressed concern over “The absence of a clearly mandated central authority to provide regulatory oversight on adoptions and legislation codifying the obligation of the State party‘s competent authorities to intervene in inter-country adoption procedures” and recommended that measures be implemented “to ensure that all adoptions, including those in an inter-country context, are subject to authorisation by a clearly mandated central authority with adequate capacity to provide judicial oversight and regulation.”

Regarding past adoptions, the committee noted the “paucity of post-adoption services available, particularly for children who had been adopted inter-country and including with regard to addressing the linguistic difficulties faced by such persons seeking information on their biological origin.”

Other issues addressed by the committee included children’s right to assemble peacefully, freedom of religion, child suicides, and measures taken to implement the committee’s previous recommendations on the involvement of children in armed conflict and the sale of children, child prostitution, and child pornography.

International bodies such as the UN CRC are trying to help Korea’s children. In order for these bodies to help, Korean government officials need to be open to suggestions and constructive criticism. A defensive attitude or a strategy of reporting only partial information to the international community cheats Korean children of their human rights and renders international agreements meaningless.

It is time for the government to realize that the children’s best interest is synonymous with the national interest. Although South Korea cannot be sanctioned for non-compliance with this treaty, it is nevertheless important for the country, both in terms of international image and meaningful changes at home, to fully implement the international treaties that it willingly ratifies.

In order to do this, long-term vision, sustained effort and meaningful budgeting is needed at the top level, as well as an informed, positive attitude from government employees who are charged with interacting with people in need of social services at the community level.

　

The views presented in this column are the writer’s own, and do not necessarily reflect those of The Hankyoreh.