Adpotion scandal has rocked South Korea after the official inquiry uncovered the dark reality of the government.
According to BBC, South Korean governments committed numerous human rights violations over decades in a controversial programme that sent at least 170,000 children and babies abroad for adoption, a landmark inquiry has found.
It said the government's lack of oversight enabled the "mass exportation of children" by private agencies that were driven by profit, and found examples of fraud, falsified records and coercion.
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Since the 1950s, South Korea has sent more children abroad for adoption than any other country, with most sent to Western countries.
South Korea has sinced moved to tighten its adoption processes, but some adoptees and their biological parents say they are still haunted by what they went through. The BBC spoke to one woman who claimed her adoptive parents "took better care of the dog than they ever did of me".
"This is a shameful part of our history," said Park Sun-young, the chairperson of the commission, at a press briefing.
"While many adoptees were fortunate to grow up in loving families, others suffered great hardship and trauma due to flawed adoption processes. Even today, many continue to face challenges."
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The report was released on Wednesday by the independent Truth and Reconciliation Commission following an investigation that began in 2022.
Since then, 367 adoptees - all of which were sent overseas between 1964 and 1999 - had filed petitions alleging fradulent practices in their adoption process.
