This issue overlaps with related practices within the South Korean family law system (and culture), such as the lack of meaningful protection against domestic abductions and visitation interference, combined with the default expectation of sole custody (according to NGO FindMyParent).
Despite enacting legislation to address the problem in response to pressure from other countries, in particular the US, South Korea continues to face criticism for its handling of international child abduction cases.
[11] The Special Advisor also published an opinion piece in one of the main newspapers in Korea, the JoongAng Ilbo: When I meet with left-behind parents who have had their children abducted to the ROK, I hear their stories of pain and hope.
Ultimately these new regulations were found insufficient, leading to the Korean officials' inability or unwillingness to handle the abducting parent's resistance or the emotional impact on the children.
The United States Congress held a hearing on September 10, 2024 on the current violators of Hague convention, in which South Korea was mentioned as one of the 16 non-compliant countries, including Argentina, Peru, Belize, Honduras, Montenegro and Ecuador.
[20] The congress called for a whole-of-government approach towards the countries that do not respect the treaty, while Korea's failure to enforce the Hague return orders was highlighted by the witnesses from the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs and Office of Children's Issues.
[22] Before the Hague Abduction Convention went into effect in South Korea, the only options for left-behind parents were to either pursue criminal charges, or to try to recover their children via self-help attempts, assuming they were unable to establish custody rights through the Korean courts.