Documentary Exposes Fraud and Abuse in South Korea’s Historic International Adoption System
Deann Borshay Liem’s upcoming film “Relative Strangers” reveals how South Korea’s overseas adoption program relied on falsified records, discrimination and abuse, affecting mixed-race adoptees.
In “Relative Strangers,” co-executive producer Deann Borshay Liem chronicles the searches of six mixed-race Korean adoptees, highlighting systemic fraud and racism within South Korea’s international adoption scheme. Stories such as Lisa Jackson’s, whose mother relinquished her after bullying, and Tanne’s, whose adoption papers listed a nonexistent American father, illustrate fabricated records and missing consent. Liem notes that more than 200,000 children were sent abroad from the 1950s onward, initially mixed-race and later full-Korean, as the government prioritized reducing welfare costs over supporting single parents.
A 2025 Truth and Reconciliation Commission investigation found 56 of 367 examined cases involved human-rights abuses and deliberate falsification by agencies. The film also points to physical and sexual abuse suffered by many adoptees. While the government pledged to end overseas adoptions by 2029, Liem urges immediate action and full accountability following President Lee Jae Myung’s 2025 apology.
Why it matters
It reveals how state-backed adoption policies harmed thousands of Korean children and calls for redress.
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