Korea joins Hague child adoption pact

South Korea has become the latest country to join the Hague Convention on inter-country adoption.

Korea's Health Minister Jin Young signed the deal that aims to protect children, birth parents and adoptive parents while endorsing the concept of international adoption as a means for children without families to find one.

It also handles other youth-related issues such as child trafficking.

Korea plans to reorganize the domestic adoption system so that it meets the standards required by the convention.

The convention went into effect in 1995 and has been ratified by 90 countries including Germany and China.