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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Kim Tong-Hyung

South Korean minister vows to expand legal remedies for adoptees and other rights victims

South Korea Adoption - (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

South Korea's justice minister has pledged to expand access to judicial remedies for victims of state-led abuses, including foreign adoptees whose adoptions were marred by widespread fraud under previous military governments.

Using unusually strong language for a senior South Korean official, Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho said the country’s past adoptions amounted to “forced child trafficking” and that the government will largely refrain from appealing rulings in cases brought by victims seeking compensation for government wrongdoing. Jung spoke Thursday in a roundtable interview with selected journalists.

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