Lawsuit over false adoption

Reliving the moments: Choi showing photos of her son, Paik Sang-yeol, in print and on her smartphone, who went missing in 1975, as she sits on a bed in her motel room in Seoul, in these file photos from March 5, 2024. — AP

A 72-year-old mother has filed a lawsuit against South Korea’s government and its largest adoption agency, alleging systematic failures in her forced separation from her toddler son who was sent to Norway without her consent.

Choi Young-ja searched despe­ra­tely for her son for nearly five decades before their emotional reunion in 2023.