C) State’s Responsibility During the Adoption Process Article 21 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child stipulates that the best interests of the child must be given the highest priority during adoption, the decision must be made by the competent authorities, overseas adoption should be permitted only as a last resort when the child cannot be protected in the country of origin, and obtaining financial benefits through overseas adoptions must be prohibited. Moreover, Article 7 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child stipulates the right of children to be registered at birth, the right to a name, the right to acquire nationality, and the right to know and be cared for by their parents. Article 6 of the Convention declares the inherent right to life, and Article 7 of the Convention declares the ‘right to social life.’ Therefore, the best interests of the child should be given the highest priority in the adoption process for children of all ages, support must be provided to raise children in the original family as much as possible, and the overseas adoption should be attempted as a last resort after considering domestic adoption when the birth parents are unable to raise the child. The Hague Convention stipulates that a protective network should be established to prevent theft, trafficking or trading of children at the time of adoption, and that the overseas adoptions should be carried out under the intervention of the central authority. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has repeatedly recommended ratification of the Hague Convention after the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th deliberations of the government report of Korea. Korea's current adoption system entrusts all procedures, other than court approval, to private adoption agencies. This method does not conform to the provisions of the Hague Convention that the overseas adoptions must be carried out under the responsibility of a competent public authority, and is a matter that raises question as to whether the state is playing an appropriate role in protecting children's human rights. Therefore, it is necessary to identify and remedy human rights violations that occurred during the overseas adoption processes in the past, while strengthening the public responsibility in the future adoption processes and making improvements to place priority on the best interest of the child. 142