Country Status South Korea is currently OPEN to adoptions by US citizens.  For a list of Joint Council agencies working in South Korea, please consult our Country Programs page.

 

 

September 5, 2007
A Joint Council Korea Task Force has been formed to address the challenges facing Korean intercountry adoption. The task force, formed as a result of a Korea Caucus conference call with 19 participants on August 31, 2007, will look at various options for effective advocacy and make its recommendations to Joint Council in the fall of 2007.

 

September 26, 2006
Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Maura Harty and Children's Issues office director Ellen Conway visited Seoul as part of their recent trip to Asia. Even prior to that, however, the Department of State (DOS) had learned through the U.S. Embassy that Representative Ko had, in July, withdrawn the legislation she introduced in May that would have banned intercountry adoption. Assistant Secretary Harty and Ms. Conway confirmed this during their visit. That said, the Korean government is very focused on increasing domestic adoptions within Korea and providing substantial incentives to Korean families for adopting Korean children. Although South Korea hopes to increase domestic adoption, they will not stop intercountry adoption. DOS is not very optimistic about the prospects for Korea accession to the Hague Convention in the near future.