Hi my name is Yooree and many thanks for your supportive and kind words, I'm going to Paris to file a complaint against the French adoption agency. I will keep you updated. Please take great care. I fight for the rights of adoptees and I fight against illegal adoption.

The fact that the adoption was non-consensual on the children's and parents' part, technically this is considered kidnapping or even human trafficking

The disgusting part is that a wife protecting a pedophile-husband. And she still blames a girl for sending him to jail! That woman should have never been out of jail, she never remorsed. I wish to all who suffered to stay strong.

I'm also adopted (from Seoul to France at the age of 3 months old, in 83), but I've never tried to look for my birth family because my adoptive parents (who have been caring, no complaint at all) told me early on that there was no information in the file. However, this documentary put things into perspective and I'm starting to question my own adoption and the informations in my file... Huge respect and support to Kim Yoo-Ree, Louise and the others! Thank you KBS for your investigative work.

This should be a Interpol investigation. These traffickers should be prosecuted, no matter how long ago.

This is child trafficking. My heart breaks for Yoo-ree specially. She's incredibly strong. ❤

This is a perfect example of the dark side of adoptions. The child can have a good life, or it can be catastrophic. It's impressive that she still knows Korean after all these years in France .Yoo-Ree's adoptive mother only seem to worry about that she tried to send her father to prison. As if she betrayed the family for not accepting his sexual abuse.

Yooree’s adoptive mother blaming her for her rape is pure insanity

it's so inspiring how yoo ree was able to come back and face her adoptive mother with confidence and calm, no longer as the intimidated little girl who couldn't do anything

It broke my heart to see Yoo ree press that door bell and cry out for justice and a way to find peace for her painful past. It’s an increasingly unjust world where law just protects rich and powerful.

The audacity on the adoptive”mother” to still try and blame her for their own miserable behaviour! I would send her to life in prison without parole. Let her spend the rest of her miserable life in jail. What monsters! And happy that Kim Yoo are got her closure and maybe a little peace.

Her pain was so gut wrenching. Her anger was palpable. :( what a horrible thing to have lived though. My heart goes out to all of them.

I’m a Korean adoptee who was adopted from gwangju Korea to the US. I had it easy. I was given to a great loving family and reading an article about these adoptions especially the ones from Holt I’m appalled. I cannot believe the adoption agencies and the Korean government agreed to this. It really wants me to figure out where my birth family are and find out if they were made to sign the adoption papers or if they were lied to and said I died at birth. Looking back it makes sense now that there were a lot of Korean adopted kids growing up. I just can’t believe this. It’s very upsetting

Wow, Yoo-ree found her adoptive "mother". This woman has no remorse. I'm surprised Yoo-ree was able to get some documentation from her.

Very fascinating. I'm a Korean Adoptee from the US and going to Seoul this summer for the first time since I was adopted in the 70s. My heart goes out to the lady from France adopted by an abusive father, but I have unfortunately heard of this happening here in the US as well. I was very lucky to have been adopted by very loving, supportive adoptive parents in the US, but thank you for educating me on the process of how lost children in Korea were adopted. I was completely unaware of the darker side of overseas adoption and how money feeds into adoption agencies for foreign adoptions... I was also a lost/abandoned child with no information about my background other than my biological parents were apparently presumed deceased. But after watching your doc, I'm questioning everything.. This has inspired me to educate myself further into my background, hopefully locating a biological family member. Thank you so much for your documentary. Well done!

Yoo-ree's tenacity and strength just amazes me. I am lost for the appropriate words. I wish her future is full of lighthearted happy days and now she can forge a new future exactly the way she wants.

That french lady they who did this illegal adaption should be prosecuted by law.

Everyone involved from the Koreans who sold her to the French agency that facilitated it should be thrown in jail for human trafficking....I don't care if the crime is 40 years old or whatever by now.

hello i'm a french. I don't know how the adoption services are at the moment but what I can say is that my mother after being abandoned spent all her childhood and adolescence at the DASS ( the service that manages and places the children) and in foster families and in view of what she dared to tell me at her 60th birthday sends shivers down my spine....foster families in the 1950s didn't seem too in control....she told me about scenes where she was hit and badly treated....and I suspect sexual abuse although she never told me about it.... So this report only half-surprises me even though it breaks my heart. THANK YOU for daring to talk about this kind of subject. For things to change, we have to be aware, ignorance is an evil that is no longer necessary today!!!!!!

It is commendable that KBS has initiated to report on Korea's illegal adoptions, and I can not even imagine the status of adoptions worldwide at the present time. I expect KBS will continue to support the group in Denmark by reporting the group's work. I am aware that Korean Adoptees have been vocal about adoptions in general, among them I have a close friend. She was in pain. I sincerely hope by now she has found her biological parents and found peace in her heart. 💕💕

Someone needs to be accountable. No one should grow up with the feeling their identity was lied to. I can’t imagine the shock they went through and the struggles of not knowing. I hope these adoptees find closure and peace one day. Great documentary.

Yoo-Ri story is really heart-breaking. As a french woman, I feel ashamed of what she was subjected to. Her determination to find justice is really touching and I hope she'll find peace, eventually. It's a really good thing that we get to see her confronting/speak out against her adoptive mother, and I was glad to know that she may have had approached the police to relate what this despicable man did to her. (As the adoptive mother seems to imply) She is really empowering. Je vous envoie tout mon courage, vous êtes une très belle personne.

It’s so sad that this is not just a thing in Korea but in a lot of other countries too. Even in Canada, we have a horrible history of forcibly taking indigenous children from their homes and putting them into foster care or having them adopted by white famines (sixties scoop). It’s so sad to see what children have to go through in these sort of situations

Ms Yoo-ree, Ms Louise, your stories have left me heartbroken and in tears. I pray that your rights are fully restored as soon as possible and that every person responsible for your suffering is adequately punished. I pray for happiness and peace in your future life. May God save every single child who faces the same cruelty today..

I am Albanian and my country also went through this terrible event for a very long time during the Communist regime and in the early 90s. Parents would be told their children had died, while they were either adopted to other Albanian parents (some who knew the truth) or mainly to Italians. Now, there are numerous cases of both parents who have been looking for their children ever since, and children who want to find out what really happened. It is incredibly heartbreaking.

I am Korean living in Kazakhstan, I wasn't adopted i was born to my Korean parents and grew in Kazakhstan. But I felt tremendous pain and was crying a lot when i watched it, may all Korean adoptees find justice and peace

my heart is breaking. watching her yelling outside the gate and her hands shaking from so much anger. i wish i was there with you to yell and scream at this woman. more importantly, South Korean government must bring justice and put all those criminals for trafficking children for money regardless of their old age. i don;t give a FCK if they are 80's now. seriously.

The documentary does not discuss the Korean attitude toward lost, abandoned, or orphaned children. It is very bad, as though somehow the children are at fault for what happens to them, are a problem to the society.

WHY Isn’t the head of the adoption agency in jail right now!

Why is this being called an adoption industry? The parents didn't give the kid up. The child was kidnapped and trafficked.

Even in 2023, S. Korea has some...questionable parenting laws. I have a S. Korean colleague that was in an abusive relationship with her (now-ex) boyfriend. They had a son out of wedlock, and when they broke up his family was legally able to take custody of the child without her consent. It had something to do with the father's rights to the child outweighing the mother's rights, but I didn't get too deeply into it with her. She has not seen her son in person in years... 😢

Let me start by saying that Adoption agencies care way more about money than the welfare of the babies and kids. It sounds like you might have been kidnapped and/or sold to the agency. I was adopted back in 1978 by a loving family with six siblings and I couldn't be happier with how they treated me. Back in 1995, when I was visiting my Japanese girlfriend, she arranged a trip to Korea to look for my mother and grandmother. Since I lived with my mother and grandmother until I (age 8) was adopted, so I had photos (given by caring teacher and mother) and documents to make it easy to find my agency. When I got to my agency, the woman working there remembered me and lied to my face stating that she didn't know where my mother lives. After we left the agency, she called up my mother and told her that I was in Korea looking for her. But she will not tell my mother which hotel I'm staying at until she came into Seoul and made a donation. My mother relied "If you don't tell me right now where my son is staying, I will come to Seoul and kill you". There are more interesting stories I could tell about my experience but this story is not about me. Yoo-ree, I can't say in words the amount of pain and suffering you've endured. Most people on this planet can't understand the amount as well. Both your adoptive parents and the Korean agency are the most disgusting example of a human there are. I'm not sure what you're trying to seek regarding them but I hope you can move on and find peace in your life. I'm impressed that you can speak both Korean and French fluently so maybe you can teach French in Korea and try to build fond memories there. Maybe you could even start a business helping other Korean adoptee's learn about their past and maybe (I know it very difficult) even bring families together again. Remember trials and tribulations don't define a person but how you've overcome them. I'm so proud of you my Korean sister.

Child trafficking then and it still goes on today. To the lady who endured sexual abuse as a defenceless child I am so very sorry for your pain and suffering. These children and babies were taken/stolen as meaingless commodities and trafficking out and its wrong, its cruel, its evil. This is the world we live in and its not improved even to this day. I commend the sheer strength of those people in this film for surviving through such horrors.

salute to kbs for making this investigative report. it sheds light on something that's downright deplorable about something in your nation, right down to national policies that made it happen. i know it's not easy to do this and even have other nations see something dark and ugly, but it's awareness of what's wrong that's the first step towards making solutions and developing an even better culture and nation.

The flip side is when the parents who give their children up, hunt them down when they become adults and hit the child they abandoned for money because of “family” duty. Happened to my friend, she was raised by a wonderful family in Minnesota, is a wonderful daughter to them…..she told her biological mom to take the first flight back to Korea, she owed her nothing.

I know a few Korean adoptees, some of who were lucky enough to go back to Korea to study or even become English teachers there (I taught as well so that's how we met). However, their stories are also sad, some of whose adoptive parents didn't work out. It has definitely left them scarred. I am somewhat surprised this is still going on, as I heard it is closed to adoption, like Japan due to these issues. However, with the ongoing stigma of single motherhood and few resources ("the baby box" being one), I am not entirely surprised.

I would love to know the life of Kim Yoo Ree that transpired after she left home at age 17. Where did she go? What did she do to survive? Is she married? What about her brother? Not once was her brother's update mentioned. I wonder why. There are so many questions!

There is so much anger and sadness in each of their stories. Glad that one lady found her mom.

It's not like they're not happy with their adoptive family, they just want to know the truth about their earliest life. Could you imagine, all your whole life you believed you were abandoned/orphanage, but then you rediscover your adoption file is so strange and the truth is you're not an orphanage, nor your parents abandoned you. It must be hurt so much. It makes you questioning your whole life and your existences. I can understand their point of view.

I don't think I could move on and live every day knowing my child is somewhere out there in the world not knowing where, or what exactly has happened to them.

Two things that stood out to me in the conversation at 15:26 Tona, never says outright that the girl died, as they are translating it into in the subtitles. There is not even a mention of death in that conversation at all. But listening to it, it does sound like something off, but. Death, dying or dead, was not mentioned from Tona. Directly translated from Danish to English: "My parents In the adoption time when they were waiting when they were waiting for me They first was going to get one girl Then they were told that girl returned back to her mother And then they were going to get another girl And that was Uhm Sung-Sook But then they got me So I am actually the third in line for them waiting to get a young girl" Also at 40:36 Nia says "What Peter is doing right now, is not because we have to be angry or mad, but because we have rights". And the subtitels says " Is not just out of anger, but because we have the right, etc" There is a rather big difference in the way that was translated.

This truly infuriates me. Holt organization, Korean government, the french adoption organization. They all played their part in it. The fact that those two organizations are still functioning as if nothing happened is just...

Before I forget: Salt Lake City, Utah in the US has the same problem! It's being cracked down on, but there are a TON of shady adoptions there. An active duty soldier's wife put their daughter up for adoption while he was away at training, and the child was adopted by a family there! When he got an attorney to get his child back, they found out the adoption agency lied and said they'd exhausted every effort to contact the biological father first. Well, the wife gave them his name, he was all over social media, and he was in the military--so super easy to track down. The man had his child adopted without his consent and had to fight to get her back. He won his case, but the adoptive family fought to the bitter end and kept trying to delay giving her back. This needs to stop!

Wow. As someone that is considering adopting in the future. This was very informative. I’ve herd of this happening to a little girl. Once she was able to talk or learn English. I forgot the details of the story. But the point is that she was finally able to communicate that she had a family. The adoption center put her up for adoption without her parent’s knowledge.

Unfortunately we have many cases like these here in Brazil. Hundreds of children disappear year after year and no one can find them. Many are trafficked to countries in Europe, the USA and other countries to be "adopted". So sad it's inhumane. Some time ago, I saw here on KZfaq the story of a Brazilian woman who was "adopted" by a French elderly home, was taken to France and spent her entire life feeling that something was wrong. She was constantly punished and humiliated when she didn't behave as they wanted. Her mother was a very poor woman and left her children in one of these "reception institutions" and said that she would return to her daughters as soon as the financial situation improved. From what she gave to understand, the biological father never wanted to assume paternity. Some time later she returned and the Italian man at the "institution" said that one of them had been adopted, against her mother's wishes, and taken to another country. It was later discovered that this Italian was a drug trafficker and the "institution" was a front for international child trafficking. Returning to the young woman's story, she reports that she had a hard time with these "parents", she didn't have a childhood, she didn't know what it was like to play and have friends. As soon as she became of age, she discovered her true story and sought every possible way to find out who her parents were and managed to locate her family in Brazil and they agreed to meet her and welcomed her very well. The bad side of this story is that her mother passed away many years ago and she had never given up hope of finding her. She started using her Brazilian registered name. The brothers who are the result of another relationship with their mother remain in contact with her to this day.

amazing after she got kidnapped from kr to France, she retained her native language and remembers her bio parents' names. You are brave and i'm sorry for what happened to you. Big hugs. May you be continue to find happiness and peace as you go through your journey of healing. How calm she remained when confronting the adoptive mom. I'm glad you got back your papers.

How sad & heartbreaking for everyone involved! Those who operated & made profits via phony adoption agencies needs to go to jail! They have no souls! How could they do that? The government owes them apologies & compensation for turning a blind eye! I hope these people get their truth & find peace.

After watching this, I’m questioning everything about my and my younger sister’s adoption…looking jnto this.

This is interesting. And I cried with them😢. Louise and her Mom’s reunion is priceless.

저 당시 책임자들이 늙어 죽기전에 빨리 다 잡아서 벌 받게해야한다.

You can't say this was done for the convenience of the adoptive parents when the Korean Government made all these policies and signed off on every adoption...

This is SO heartbreaking!! I can’t imagine how the parents of these children must have grieved not know what became of their children. Trafficking is and has been going on for decades!! It’s absolutely disgusting!! No one should hurt a child!

Thank you for the English translation. What a terrible sad story! I'm crying for all the adoptees that are forever deprived of a normal relation with their birthparents especially when adopted so young - not speaking the language, nor understanding the Korean culture, let alone the immense history of that beautiful country.

Back then My family is poor that hardly we pass for just eat and go to school , when i was a kid a very rich relative as my mom can they adopt me… but i m glad no matter how hard for my mom and father to raise me and my siblings she never gave me away….family stay together we care each others help each others … Now we our economy really better cause me and siblings have good job and really stable economy . just remember God always loves us, and world always turning now ur bad time but someday u will have good time

The Korean baby export story starts with the nature of Korean culture and society (and government agencies). It started with exporting biracial children in the 50’s and 60’s because the society didn’t accept mixed race people. The country was very poor, but that’s not the case in later years. The society doesn’t approve of single mothers and they face many barriers and so gave up their children. And, most of all, you just don’t adopt other people’s children in this culture. Period. These are conditions ripe for abuse by the government, adoption agencies, by some adoptive parents,etc. My heart goes out to the people in this video. I have a few Korean adoptees friends in the US. Most, if not all, have lingering sadness and anxieties about their adoption situations. At the very least, they have issues about being raised by someone of another race and never really connected on a deep level with their adopted families. It’s human nature to want to know where you come from. Everyone has a need to belong.

I am so angry with her - I heard stories like this long ago before we moved from Seoul in the 80s. These stories need to be told so they don't continue.

My broken heart is crying... I cannot never understand HOW one "human" can do so much harm to another innocent human... This is high level of psychopathology and cowardice of criminal predators and theirs partners in crime. "L'homme est un loup pour l'homme." I can only admire the courageous victims who stood up for themselves 🕊️🙏

Yoo ree was already a preteen when she was taken. She should have a lot of memories of Korea and may be able to trace her steps to find her parents

Holy f*** so brave, the way she confronted her adoptive "mother"..!! Clearly human trafficking. Hope she finds peace at some point in her life ❤

Oh my God! I was 16 when I first visited Seoul, I still remember vividly on our departure flight from Seoul to Tokyo, we had numerous babies fastened on solo seats. Those babies were en route for mass adoption according to the flight stewardess. Our opinion since then was that South Korea had been a very poor country in the early 80's...

Ouch... We never know how good your life is until you realize how low the bar gets. I really hope for their sakes, they find their birth parents. Rather they meet them or not is up to the parents, but I hope they can at least find out they had parents so they can get closure in this journey. My heart felt so heavy watching Louise meet her mother. I wish nothing but the best for these adoptees.

Poor woman... She's shaking...

So heartbreaking, this is something no one should go through. Keeping you all in my prayers and may you find peace.

Wow, I admire their strength so much. Thank you for this documentary

I'm in the same situation as these women but I know my parents' names. However, when I talk to my biological mother and father, the stories doesn't add up. I'm confused all the time. I really not sure who to believe. But it feels good to see that others are in the same situation as me. Thank you for this documentary

After watching the documentary baby box. I came here and watched this .. I idolized korea because of its dramas and kpop. And used wish that i live there or have been born there. But not anymore... Very upsetting that they too cannot take care of their children..

This is absolutely heartbreaking that these parents and children were robbed of their lives together. I cried watching this story especially for Yooree that suffered horribly. What a brave strong woman to go back and see the house where the abuse was and face her adopted "mother" who was a monster. I pray they finally make progress and are compensated publicly and apologized to although nothing can make up for what happened.

what a cruel world we live in. my heart goes out for these people. may you find the justice and peace you are looking for.

Omg it said “baby” initially but to find out they were so old is even more insane than I thought originally 🤬🤬🤬 And what kind of adoption agency “has nothing to do with adoptions”??!!?

The Korean government NEEDS to immediately rectify this

this trafficking of children still happens today in a lot of countries

thank you so much for showing this to the world this broke my heart over and over again specially a child in me broke after hearing the rape case like me who can really endure this pain for so long it will never really heal up....

It's really strange so many children abandoned in Korea,All international adoptions have to stop.

Damn, I'm French and normally not violent but this adoptive "mother" is lucky her village is far away from my town. I would NOT come in peace.

Prison for child trafficking

The adoptive mother is disgusting to mention how expensive they paid for yoore and her sibling. And said how yoo re always mad when she mention the price. OFF COURSE everyone will be offensive to know how much u pay for make her childhood became nightmare with ur predator pedo husband. She (the adoptive mother) never know what true love is. YOO REE i hope u get ur happy ending and find peace and joyful life.❤

한국어 안잊으신거 정말 대단하신듯..

This is heartbreaking. I hope that a humanitarian corporation will look into this matter and force these adoption agencies to fess up. Such a disgraceful practice. 😢

Some parents only want the attention that comes with adopting and/or having children. My husband was adopted from Seoul at the age of 2. He has tons of memories of playing by himself, arguing with or tending to his self-absorbed mother, and being bullied at school k-12 (and his parents did nothing about it). My husband admits he’d rather be dead because his biological parents didn’t want him, and the family who adopted him made it clear he’s a nuisance. It breaks my heart because it’s only now-that’s he’s married-that his parents want his time 24-7.

I've known a few Korean adoptees throughout my life. They are wonderful people, but have holes in their hearts. I wonder if this is what happened to them now. 😢 Many of them are my age. Wish I could give them a big hug. You are worthy of love. You are God's children. As a mother, I can't imagine not wanting to see your own child.

Wow, the main girl speaks so many languages. Korean without an accent, French, and English. I am so sorry to everyone involved. My heart goes to everyone.

im terrified, how humans could be inhumane, really, like in many ways

this is a lot of pain to watch the experience of these people, I cannot imagine how much pain they have gone through in their lives.

Too deep into the overseas adoption system, like a hard habit to break. Social stigma of being single mothers-- due to whatever reason, adoption is still widely considered as the better option even to this day.

Blow this up to world news like 60 minutes or something. This is terrifyingly heartbreaking and so wrong. This needs to be prevented from happening ever again!!!! 😢 all for money no care for the people

Still happens today all over ... But specifically for this content, it's still happening here in Korea... Its a for profit business and essentially Human trafficking even if the children are going to foster parents in US... My Aunt's son was kidnapped in SOUTH KOREA , in a split second in a market place ... It was an epidemic in South Korea of all of these kidnappings... My aunt searched all the orphanages throughout Korea to no avail... It is absolutely underground network and the Elite wealthy society plus the Korean Mob most definitely have a hand in it as they do with this Korean entertainment Industry where they exploit young women and girls aspiring to be Entertainers but kidnap them and make them slaves ... KOREA .... And yes of course it's going on in Japan, China , and AMERICA USA... Alll this always getting swept under the rug and ALL mainstream media avoids reporting on it

my jaw drop when the woman says : "overseas adoption create huge amount of money into the government." what kind of government trade kids of their own color & blood dor money?!

Watching this directly after watching "south korea baby boxes" really hurts extra

I skipped the whole intro and staright to the interaction I immediately notice this is not in Korea... it's just child trafficking in a form of adoption...

Hope South K govt start a DNA bank system. There is a Wait for Me Weekly show in mainland China. It is started by a mother whose child was kidnapped. Her pains inspired her to start a simple movement to help mostly poor and uneducated parents whose young children were kidnapped or lost. She was so successful that it became a weekly TV shows. More reunions were possible because of the nation wide publicity that eventually the govt started a DNA bank to help match the parents and adopted adults or adults who lost their parents through misadventures. Even the lady eventually found her kidnapped child after he/she registered his DNA after watching the show. Their reunion was possible after many many years because the lady never give up her hope to find her kidnapped child.

this is infuriating!!!! i hope the evil thats been lurking in the dark is finally brought to light!

these people are so strong, i cried watching this, go get your justice! wishing you all the best

Why South Korea let their children to be adopted even their parents were alive. This is South Korea's problem. She should go to South Korea for to get her answer , Not France !!

I hope that lady from France finds her birth parents...her story was really sad. all of these children adopted out of their birth parents experienced trauma.

I hope each of you finds peace. These are crimes against humanity. I am also glad that each and every one of you is alive. Blessings to all of you.

It was terrible. She is strong and strives for a better life. My admiration for her.

I hope you all find some answers and peace. Thank you for sharing your stories

I would love to see a similar documentary on China during this the reign of the one child policy, I can’t even imagine the magnitude of the child trafficking there ☹️

Thank you so much for making this report. I hope more adoptées can find the truth of their families

I wish they all find peace and healing. It's really sad and I'm sorry for all the turmoil they've had to go through