The Members of KCARE in Korea reviewed with me (2nd from right sitting) the new adoption laws that will take effect in August 2012
Sorry it took so long to sit down and write this one on the changes in the Korean adoption laws.
When I was in Korea in mid-May, I was given a thorough presentation of the new Special Adoption Law Revision by the members of the Korean Central Adoption Resources (KCARE), in which I am a board member.
I won’t bore you with all the details, but only highlight some of the new features of the laws that will impact both the domestic and the intercountry adoption. Some of the laws have remained the same. Throughout the blog, Article is referred as “A”, Section is referred as “S”, and Subsection is referred as “SS”. For example A1 S2 SS3 means Article 1, Section 2, Subsection 3. Although this is not important to you, but I put it down just in case to track to the original reference.
Article 1: General Provisions
A1 S1 SS1: A “Child” is defined as a person under the age of 18.
S3 SS4: The Government and the regional government/organizations must establish a sound adoption culture by promoting domestic adoption for the needy children, that they must do all they can to provide post-adoption services to help them to adjust to the new families.
S5 SS1: May 11th of each year is designated as the National Adoption Day, and the subsequent one week starting this day would be called the National Adoption Week.
S7 SS1: The Government and the regional government/organizations must place the highest priority in placing children domestically.
S7 SS4: If the adoption agencies cannot place children domestically despite their efforts, then they are allowed to look for families overseas after the five months waiting period have passed. For those children that require special medical attention, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) may grant them exemption from this waiting requirement.
S8: To carry out the welfare and responsibilities for the children, the Government must make efforts to reduce the intercountry adoption. (Steve’s comment: This is a rather contradictory statement. I would think that the best welfare and responsible thing to do would be to find families abroad if they can’t be found in Korea).
Article 2: Adoption Requirements
S10 SS1: Adoptive parents must meet all the requirements noted in this section:
1. Adoptive parents must have adequate assets
2. Must have freedom of religion, and must be able to educate children to function in the society
