South Korean Adoptees Sue Denmark Over Alleged Illegal Adoptions

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Copenhagen: Eight South Korean-born adoptees have filed a lawsuit against Denmark, accusing authorities of failing to prevent illegal adoptions and covering up their true family backgrounds.

Among them is Sofie Randel, who was brought to Denmark with her younger brother in 1977. For decades, she believed she had been abandoned, as stated in her adoption documents.

However, research carried out in South Korea later revealed that their mother had placed the children in an orphanage due to financial hardship, hoping they would eventually return to the family.

Randel discovered that her siblings in South Korea had spent 45 years searching for her and her brother. The family was finally reunited in 2023.

The adoptees argue that Danish authorities failed to properly verify adoption records and concealed information about their origins. Through the lawsuit, they are seeking official recognition of the state's role in what they describe as unlawful adoptions carried out during a period when thousands of South Korean children were sent abroad.

The case is part of growing scrutiny of international adoption practices that took place in South Korea over several decades.

Pic Credit: AFP/ Sofie Randel from South Korea was adopted in Denmark as a child with her brother