This Op-Ed piece indicates the authors’ views on the Korean Minister of Health and Welfare’s recent signing of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption. The article speaks to the four ways in which the authors believe the signing of the Convention, and its ultimate ratification and implementation in Korea, would improve the child welfare situation. First of all, say the authors, the Convention’s principle of subsidiarity could help to expand support for single mothers and to enforce the provision of child support by fathers. Secondly, implementing the Convention could lead to the Korean government’s institution of controls on the financial aspects of adoption to ensure that there is no improper financial incentive toward inter-country adoption. Thirdly, the Korean adoption system could be made more transparent and documentation more routine. And lastly, the ratification and implementation of the Convention in South Korea would ensure that birth parents are properly counseled about adoption and are not misled into thinking they are sending their children to a study abroad program or coerced to give up their children to adoption because they are single mothers, as is a common practice in Korea.
Ratifying the Convention, however, will only lead to changes and improvements in the current Korean adoption system if the Convention is properly implemented. According to the authors, there is currently no national system of redress established by the Convention, the Convention does not offer any redress for adoptees and their birth families, and there is no effective international investigatory or enforcement mechanism regarding the Hague Convention. While the authors believe that signing the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption is a step in the right direction, ultimately, it could lead to few real reforms in Korea’s adoption system if it is not properly implemented. Therefore, the authors urge the Korean government to sincerely seek to fulfill the spirit of the Hague Convention.