Illegally Adopted Koreans Demand Apology from Belgian State

A group of a dozen South Koreans who were illegally adopted by Belgian families in the 1970s and 1980s are demanding an official apology from the Belgian state, describing how they were “bought from a catalog” in what they characterize as a systematic practice of fraudulent international adoptions. The adoptees are also calling for the establishment of a parliamentary inquiry commission to investigate Belgium’s role in the scheme.

A System Built on Fraud

Approximately 3,700 South Korean children were adopted by Belgian families between the 1970s and 1990s, making Belgium the seventh-largest recipient country of Korean adoptees worldwide. But investigations have revealed that many of these adoptions were built on widespread fraud, including falsified documents, identity swapping, and coerced consent from biological parents.

According to La Libre Belgique, children were routinely described as “orphans abandoned in the street” when they had living, identifiable parents. Adoption agencies altered identities, sometimes using the identity of a deceased child, while biological parents were told their children had died.

Lee Ok Ruyn, now known as Delphine Hanson, arrived in Belgium on December 15, 1978, at just four months and 16 days old. “I have the impression that someone stole my past, my culture and my identity,” she told La Libre Belgique. “I was merchandise. Babies were negotiated like kilos of minced meat.”

Legal Action Against the Belgian State

In March 2025, eight Korean adoptees filed a complaint against the Belgian state and two NGOs — Terre des Hommes and Enfants du Monde — before a Brussels investigating judge. A ninth plaintiff joined in June 2025, and the group has since grown to a dozen individuals.

Their lawyer, Me Walter Damen, described the scope of the alleged crimes to VRT NWS: “These children were sometimes literally stolen. Often, their parents were told they were dead. Birth dates were falsified, medical information concealed. Our complaint concerns falsification, human trafficking, use of false documents, criminal organization, child abduction, use of intermediaries who derive financial profit.”

Damen further alleged that the Belgian government was aware of the abuses but failed to act. “Official archives show that the state was in contact with the South Korean government several times on this subject, to denounce the abuses. But it did nothing to put an end to this international child trafficking,” he said, adding that the Belgian government also financed the flights used to bring Korean children to the country.

Growing International Reckoning

The case is part of a broader global reckoning with South Korea’s troubled adoption history. An estimated 200,000 South Korean children have been adopted internationally since the end of the Korean War in 1953, creating what is considered the largest diaspora of adoptees in the world.

In October 2025, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung formally apologized to Korean adoptees abroad. As reported by Yonhap News Agency, Lee acknowledged that “the Republic of Korea had at one point the bad reputation of a child-exporting country,” adding: “My heart is broken when I imagine the trauma and suffering of adopted children finding themselves alone in a place far from their native country and not speaking the same language.”

Similar legal actions have emerged elsewhere. In June 2026, eight Korean adoptees sued the Danish state for illegal adoptions, as La Libre Belgique reported.

Belgium’s Acknowledgment and the Path Forward

Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot stated in March 2025 that he is a “sincere ally” on the issue but declined to comment on ongoing judicial proceedings. The Belgian state has acknowledged the existence of illegal adoption practices on its soil, and an administrative investigation has been opened.

Solayman Laqdim, Belgium’s General Delegate for Children’s Rights, expressed support for the adoptees’ demands in an interview with La Libre Belgique. “Knowing one’s origins is a fundamental right, essential for being able to build one’s identity and personality,” Laqdim said. “Given the scale of the phenomenon and the suffering caused, the creation of a parliamentary inquiry commission does not seem illegitimate to me. And, symbolically, that the Belgian state presents apologies makes sense.”

Yung Fierens, president of CAFE (Critical Adoptees Front Europe), who was herself illegally adopted at nine months old, told RTL Info: “It’s incomprehensible that it took so long for something to happen.”

What’s Next

The adoptees are now demanding three things from the Belgian state: an official apology, the establishment of a parliamentary inquiry commission, and formal recognition of the systematic nature of illegal adoptions from South Korea. The case raises fundamental questions about Belgium’s historical responsibility and could open the door for thousands of other Korean adoptees across Europe to seek similar recognition and accountability.

As South Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission continues investigating 20,000 adoption cases, and as legal proceedings advance in Brussels, the demand for truth and accountability shows no signs of abating.