South Korea is pushing to join the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption designed to protect the human rights of children adopted overseas.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced Friday it would establish systems in order to meet the Convention guidelines.

The total number of Korean adoptees sent overseas has been estimated to be around 165,000.

Many of them face difficulties including American adoptees deported to Korea for failing to obtain American citizenship.

The ministry and the U.S. government agreed to discuss ways to help adoptees who have no citizenship.

To join the Hague Convention, the Korean government must also establish stricter adoption laws and reduce the number of overseas adoptions.

In February, the country introduced the Special Adoption Law, which requires the government to keep a central database of adoptees and gives family courts the authority to approve adoptions.

The ministry said that Korea should revise child-care service so that it becomes more home-based because the Hague Convention emphasizes being raised under birth parents or adoption, with institution as a final resort.

By Sang Youn-joo (sangyj@heraldcorp.com)