The telegraph
South Korean president under fire for saying adoptive parents should be able to ‘change’ their children
Children’s rights groups in South Korea have condemned President Moon Jae-in’s comments, suggesting that adoptive parents who don’t get along with one child should be able to “exchange” them for another. Mr. Moon was answering a question at a press conference on Monday about the government’s efforts to prevent child abuse due to the death last year of a 16-month-old girl, allegedly in the hands of her adoptive parents. The case sparked outrage in South Korea, with Jung-in’s adopted mother being charged with murder on January 13. The woman, identified only by her surname, Jang, was originally charged with fatal child abuse and neglect in December. Commenting on the case, Mr. Moon said, “Even after the adoption, the adoptive parents need to verify that the adoption is working for them. Therefore, there must be measures that allow them to cancel the adoption or, if they still want to adopt a child, they should be able to exchange it. The press conference, which was being broadcast live on national television, triggered an immediate response, with critics saying that the president was suggesting that children were “goods” that could be returned and refunded. Groups representing adoptees and parents who gave homes to children protested in front of the presidential Blue House on the same day, demanding an apology from the president and changes to the adoption system in Korea. “Mr Moon’s comments are no different from those of adoption agencies, which treat adoption as a business,” Jeon Young-soon, head of a parent association, told The Korea Herald. At Kyung-won, a member of the opposition People’s Power Party, also condemned the president’s comments, saying: “For adopted children, the terrible ordeal is being abandoned again by their adoptive parents. Mr. Moon made a serious mistake. ”A petition was also launched on the president’s website, stating:“ Adoption is not like shopping for a child. When people decide to take care of a child for life, they adopt the child with an incomparable love ”. Government officials insist that the president’s comments have been misinterpreted and disregarded. South Korea traditionally has low levels of domestic adoption, partly due to the importance of blood relations and the stigma attached to children born out of wedlock. Many Korean children find adoptive parents abroad.