We Are Korea Social Service (KSS) 한국사회봉사회 Adoptees.


Your History Is More Than A Paperslip.

This is a website by and primarily for Korea Social Service (KSS) Adoptees.


*Please note that due to the volume of information on Paperslip in general, this site may be best viewed on a laptop or other large screen device.

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*While this website is mostly geared toward Adoptees who were adopted through the Korean Adoption Agency Korea Social Service (KSS), there is ALSO information here which is relevant to ALL Korean Adoptees, regardless of their Korean Adoption Agency. Please read carefully to note what info. is purely relevant to KSS Adoptees and what is generally relevant to ALL Korean Adoptees.

Want to Search this site? Click >>>>>here<<<<< and simply substitute the term “KSS Contact” for the term within the quotes “ “ you are searching for, using Google to efficiently search the Paperslip website.

Paperslip is an evolving FREE toolkit for KSS Birth Family Search and Reunion. Contact Us for more info.

Please note that we offer FREE birth family search advice to KSS Adoptees and PAID birth family search advice to NON-KSS Adoptees.

For more info please see:

NEW! Advisory Sessions - Free for KSS Adoptees | Paid for Non-KSS Adoptees

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Connect With Other Korean Adoptees From Korea Social Service, Inc. 한국사회봉사회 (KSS) Adopted to the US, Netherlands, Denmark + Switzerland between 1964-2012.

Please note that KSS did *NOT* adopt to Canada, Australia, Sweden, Norway, France, England, Belgium, Italy, or Germany. If you were adopted to these countries, you are NOT a KSS Adoptee.

This website is by and primarily for Korea Social Service (KSS) Adoptees. KSS was the SMALLEST of the 4 major Korean Adoption Agencies:

  1. HOLT Korea (not to be confused with Holt International, which is the Western Holt Adoption Agency)

  2. Eastern Social Welfare Society (ESWS) - formerly Eastern Child Welfare Society (ECWS)

  3. Social Welfare Society (SWS) / now Korea Welfare Society (KWS)

  4. Korea Social Service (KSS)

    Korea Social Service (KSS) Adoptees ONLY:
    Learn how request your KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary, the document most likely to contain the most truthful information about your origin by clicking >>>>>    here<<<<<.

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Please note that KOREAN Adoption Agencies almost always partnered with a corresponding WESTERN (US, European, Canadian, or Australian) Adoption Agency.

If you do NOT know the name of your KOREAN Adoption Agency, but you DO know the name of your WESTERN (US, European, Canadian, or Australian) Adoption Agency, you can often figure out your KOREAN Adoption Agency name by looking at the PDF below, which shows the correspondence between the 4 major Korean Adoption Agencies and their Western Partner Adoption Agencies:

Tracing Your Origin (PDF)

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NEW!
IMPORTANT Info For KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptees With Interest In Birth Family Search After July 19th, 2025.

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KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptees ONLY are welcome to join the private Facebook group:
 KSS Cribmates.

ALL *US* Korean Adoptees are welcome to join the private Facebook group:
US Korean Adoptees

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IMPORTANT UPDATE FOR KSS ADOPTEES —
May 23rd, 2025:

Please note that if you are a KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptee that it is now likely too late to submit a request for a birth family search and your “KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary” in time to get a response from KSS prior to their presumed closure after July 19th, 2025.

*HOWEVER — we really DO NOT KNOW exactly when the cutoff date is for submitting requests to KSS. KSS themselves say that they do not know exactly what is happening with the upcoming file transfer from KSS to NCRC — and that they may continue to process requests PAST July 19th, 2025.

Please note that ALL future birth family search requests will have to be submitted through NCRC / KAS, which will not be accepting new birth family search requests until mid-September 2025. Please see:

Regarding The Future Of Birth Family Search Through NCRC and KAS

IF you already have information on your birth parent/s — including full name/s and birth date/s (or at least age at the time your paperwork was created) BE SURE TO BACK THIS INFORMATION UP — YOU MAY NEVER RECEIVE THIS INFORMATION AGAIN!

If you submit a birth family search request through NCRC / KAS after mid-September 2025, please be sure to provide NCRC / KAS with a COPY of any birth parent information YOU already have — if you have any! Please DO NOT ASSUME that they will have your correct files with which to conduct a search! The file transfer from KSS (and ALL the Korean Adoption Agencies) to NCRC may be a PERMANENT MESS!

Please contact us at paperslipadoptee@gmail.com if you are a KSS Adoptee and you have any questions.

Thank you!

After July 19th, 2025, ALL Korean Adoption Agency files including the files of KSS will begin to move to the Korean Government Agency NCRC.

We assume that KSS Post Adoption Services will PERMANENTLY CLOSE after July 19th, 2025.

If anyone wishes to submit any last minute requests to KSS, please do so IMMEDIATELY - but please be sure to let us review your KSS forms BEFORE you submit them to KSS. There is no time left for mistakes!

We don't know exactly how long KSS will take to get back to you, but they have said it takes between 2-3 months to respond, and there are less than 3 months left before July 19th.

Please email us at paperslipadoptee@gmail.com if you want FREE help with the process for making requests from KSS.

To learn how to request both a birth family search and your formerly secret “Korean Adoptive Child Study Summary” please see the “NEW! Illustrated Step By Step Guide To Initiating Or Continuing a Birth Family Search Through KSS” about halfway down this page:

Step By Step KSS Birth Family Search

Please note that AFTER July 19th, 2025, ALL Korean Adoptees will have to make birth family search requests through the KAS (Korea Adoption Services) website. Please see the link below for more info:

Regarding The Future Of Birth Family Search Through NCRC and KAS

Please note that Paperslip will undergo a MAJOR OVERHAUL in the next few months as we update outdated information. Please be patient as these updates will take time.

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IMPORTANT NEWS:

Major Project For Which Paperslip and Paperslip’s Co-Founder Received NO CREDIT for Their Contributions:

On March 26th, 2025, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Republic of Korea (TRC/TRCK) released its Interim Report. Much of the evidence presented—and indeed, the very foundation of the investigation—draws directly from years of research conducted by Paperslip’s co-founder and the broader work carried out through Paperslip. Despite this, certain "fellow" Korean Adoptee activists have egregiously and deliberately omitted any acknowledgment of our contributions. Instead, they positioned themselves as the sole mouthpiece for the TRC/TRCK and attempted to claim credit for our work.

The Truth and Reconcilation Commission of the Republic of Korea (TRC / TRCK) Interim Report Of March 26th, 2025 Owes Much To The Uncredited Work of Paperslip

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Information for Korean Birth Parents:
>>>한국의 생부모를 위한 정보.<<<

Many Korea Social Service (KSS) Adoptees were supposedly “abandoned” and “found with a “paper-slip” or “memo” in their “clothing”. Chances are, this is NOT true, and KSS has more truthful information about you at its Post Adoption Services building in Seoul.

You were likely NOT “abandoned” with no information, you were likely “relinquished” by a birth family member, who may have left their information with Korea Social Service (KSS). KSS in many cases still has this information which you can request via email.

Click here to learn how to do a Step By Step Birth Family Search through KSS. Please see the “Illustrated Step By Step Guide”.

Click the link above to learn how to start or continue a Birth Family Search with Korea Social Service (KSS). Even if you have previously visited KSS or previously done a birth family search through KSS, there is a NEW way to request your information. KSS Adoptees have only been able to REGULARLY request and obtain the formerly SECRET “KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary” since mid-2021.

Please note that you should also try to locate your ENGLISH Adoptive Child Study Summary, which would have been given by your Western Adoption Agency to your adoptive parents in the process of your adoption. In some KSS Adoptees’ cases, this document MAY contain birth parent information.

*Please note that KSS Post Adoption Services will PERMANENTLY CLOSE after July 19th, 2025!

*Please note that ALL KSS files will move to the Korean Government Agency NCRC (National Center for the Rights of the Child) starting on July 19th, 2025. After this date, ALL Korean Adoptees around the world, including KSS Adoptees, will have to submit birth family search requests through the KAS (Korea Adoption Services) website. Please see the link below for more info:

Regarding The Future Of Birth Family Search Through NCRC and KAS

For KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptees ONLY!

How To Request A Birth Family Search Through KSS in Seoul via EMAIL:

Please Note: IF you were adopted through ANY of these OTHER Korean Adoption Agencies listed below, then this info does NOT apply to you!!! Please do NOT contact KSS if you are NOT a KSS Adoptee!!!

  • Holt

  • Eastern Social Welfare Society (ESWS) - formerly Eastern Child Welfare Society (ECWS)

  • Social Welfare Society (SWS) / now Korea Welfare Society (KWS)

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FOR KSS (Korea Social Services) Adoptees ONLY, please see the SECTION titled “NEW! Illustrated Step By Step Guide To Initiating Or Continuing a Birth Family Search Through KSS” about HALFWAY DOWN this page:

>>>>>Step by Step Korea Social Service (KSS) Birth Family Search<<<<<

*Please note that the page above is best viewed on a laptop or large screen device, so that you can easily follow the simple GRAPHICS for filling out the forms. Look at the GRAPHICS, seriously! They show you EXACTLY how to fill out BOTH forms.

*Please note that we are happy to review your forms for FREE BEFORE you submit them to KSS via email. This simple review may save you YEARS of wasted time, as MANY KSS Adoptees make mistakes on these forms! Please email us at paperslipadoptee@gmail.com if you would like us to review your forms for FREE BEFORE you submit them to KSS via email.

Please note that there is some URGENCY for KSS Adoptees to request a birth family search and / or your Korean Adoptive Child Study Summary by early 2025 as KSS files will be moved to the Korean government starting July 19th, 2025. Please request a birth family search (IF interested) AND your KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary - NOW!

After July 19th, 2025, ALL Korean Adoptees will have to make birth family search request through the KAS (Korea Adoption Services) website. For more information please see:

Regarding The Future Of Birth Family Search Through NCRC and KAS

Look for this section about halfway down the Step by Step Korea Social Service (KSS) Birth Family Search page. Follow the GRAPHICS for filling out the forms. You can email us your forms to review for FREE before you submit them to KSS. This may save you YEARS of wasted time, as we can catch common mistakes which KSS Adoptees often make on the KSS birth family search forms. Simply email us your completed forms paperslipadoptee@gmail.com

An example of a KSS “ENGLISH Adoptive Child Study Summary from the 1970s. This document was provided to the adoptive parents of the KSS Adoptee and is the primary means by which KSS “orphanized” the child. The style of the ENGLISH Adoptive Child Study Summary changed over the years, but the purpose of the document remained the same: to “orphanize” children who had likely NOT actually been abandoned and found with a “paper-slip” or “memo” in their “clothings” - but who were rather more likely “relinquished” by a birth family member to KSS in Seoul, or to a KSS “feeder orphanage”, or to a maternity clinic, single unwed mother’s home, hospital, or other source of children for KSS.

This false “Orphanization” process meant that many KSS Adoptees grew up thinking that KSS had no birth family information about them - but in many cases, this was NOT true, and KSS kept a secret KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary, which sometimes, but not always, contained birth parent and sibling information. KSS still has many Adoptees’ files at its Post-Adoption Services building in Seoul, which is the last remaining building of its original campus.

For Korea Social Service (KSS) Adoptees ONLY:
Learn how to request your KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary via email here. Though not all KSS Adoptees’ Korean Adoptive Child Study Summaries contain birth parent information, many actually DO - or they may contain other meaningful information, such as where you were born or found. In cases in which the KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary does have birth parent information, and KSS Adoptees have requested this document and given required written permission to KSS for ANY birth family members to contact the Adoptee, this has resulted in several KSS Adoptees being put into reunion with their Korean birth families. Please feel free to contact us about this process - we are happy to help you!

*Please note that even if the Korean Adoptive Child Study Summary contains info on the Adoptee’s birth parent/s or sibling/s, this information will be partly redacted by KSS. However, IF there is birth parent info in the Korean Adoptive Child Study Summary, AND the Adoptee has formally requested a birth family search, THEN KSS can conduct a birth family search for the birth parent/s ONCE PER YEAR. A birth family search entails KSS / NCRC sending 3 registered letters (telegrams) to the last known address of the birth parent/s. Please see the Illustrated Step By Step Guide on the Step By Step KSS Birth Family Search page here.

Please note that if you have the name and birth date of your birth parent/s, you can go to the police in Korea and attempt to get their missing person’s unit to look up the person for you. While it is extremely helpful to have the person’s ID number (which KSS almost never provides to the Adoptee because they often did not record it) you do not have to have an ID number to do a search through Korean police. KSS will tell you that you need an ID number, but this is not true.

If you are a KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptee ONLY, the reason you should request a birth family search (via “Options A, B, C”) AND request to obtain your KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary via the “Option D” Method is because this is the document most likely to contain the most truthful information about your origin, sometimes - though not always - including information about birth parent(s) and / or sibling(s).

If you are a KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptee ONLY, click the link below to learn how to request a birth family search (via “Options A, B, C”) request AND obtain your KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary via the “Option D” Method - please see the “Illustrated Step By Step Guide” about halfway down the page:

Step by Step Korea Social Service (KSS) Birth Family Search

*Please note that you can request BOTH a birth family search AND your Korean Adoptive Child Study Summary, or one at a time. However, if you want to request a birth family search, we highly recommend that you ALSO request your Korean Adoptive Child Study Summary at the SAME TIME.

While an individual KSS Adoptee’s KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary does not always contain birth parent information, it often contains more truthful information about where the Adoptee was born or found.

*IMPORTANT NOTE: Everyone’s case is different.

  • Not everyone’s English Adoptive Child Study Summary contains totally *FALSE information.

  • Not everyone’s KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary contains totally *TRUE information.

However, KSS wrote in the English Adoptive Child Study Summaries of thousands of KSS Adoptees that they were “abandoned” and that “both parents are unknown”. In VERY MANY cases, this was simply untrue, and KSS secretly kept the often more truthful KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary in its records and never told the adoptive parents of the KSS Adoptee, nor the KSS Adoptee about the existence of this document.

However, now KSS will provide the KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary if the KSS Adoptee requests this document via the simple “Option D” Method described in the link above. Please note that you can request a birth family search at the same time by checking the other “Options A, B, C”. This process can be conducted via email. Please read this entire Step by Step Korea Social Service (KSS) Birth Family Search page for more information about this process - specifically see the “Illustrated Step By Step Guide” about halfway down the page. Please feel free to contact us with any questions.

*The above (redacted) documents of the exact SAME KSS Adoptee have been used by permission.

Adoption Documents Which Are Specific to KSS (Korea Social Service): 

  • *Top: ENGLISH Adoptive Child Study Summary (FALSIFIED)

  • *Bottom: KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary: Contains Birth Parent Names and Birthdates

In this Danish KSS Adoptee’s “ENGLISH Adoptive Child Study Summary”, (which we have partly redacted in black), it says that “her birthdate was known by the paper-slip which was found in her clothings. Information on the baby’s parents is not available from the records”.

Yet in this EXACT SAME Danish KSS Adoptee’s “KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary”, a previously SECRET document (which we have partly redacted in black), it contains the NAMES and BIRTH DATES of both her Korean mother and Korean father. KSS has partly redacted the info. about the birth parents in this copy which the Danish KSS Adoptee recently received, per Korean privacy law. However, KSS has the full info. on birth parents in the case of this Adoptee, and can conduct a birth family search based on this info ONCE PER YEAR - upon the official request of the KSS Adoptee.

The “KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary” is a formerly SECRET document which KSS  Adoptees can NOW request and receive through KSS’ official process. IF you do not know about this document or how to request it, KSS will likely not tell you.

Contact paperslipadoptee@gmail.com for more info. on how to request the “KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary” and conduct a birth family search from KSS. We will help you for FREE!

한국 입양 아동들이 생가족을 찾고 있습니다.
Korean Adoptees Seeking Birth Family.

이 웹사이트의 이 부분은 모든 해외 입양 아동에게 관련이 있습니다.여기를 클릭하거나 이미지를 클릭하여 더 많은 정보를 얻어주세요.

The Korean Adoptees Seeking Birth Family page is relevant to ALL Korean Adoptees - not just to those adopted through KSS (Korea Social Service). Click the link or image above for more birth famiily search posters of Korean Adoptees.

Welcome! Welkom! Velkommen! Wilkomme!


*Please note that due to the complexity of our website, we recommend viewing it on a LAPTOP and not a PHONE.

We are continually adding new info. to the site. Please Refresh / Reload each page you revisit, to see the most up-to-date info.

We are a volunteer organization of Korean Adoptees adopted through Korea Social Services / KSS (S. Korea), dedicated to helping connect other adult Korean Adoptees who were adopted through KSS and its Partner Western Adoption Agencies:

*Note: The adoptions of some KSS Adoptees were also facilitated through Holt in Korea, and KSS’ Western Partner Agencies in the US.

Disclaimer: We do not represent Korea Social Service (KSS) nor any of its Partner Western Adoption Agencies in any way. We are fellow KSS Adoptees.

How Do I Know If Korea Social Service (KSS) Was My Korean Adoption Agency?

Many Korean Adoptees don't know that each major Korean Adoption Agency partnered with an evolving list of Western Adoption Agencies (US / European / Australian / Canadian).

You can find a list of all 4 major Korean Adoption Agencies and their corresponding Western Adoption Agencies here: 

NEW PDF LINK (For US Adoptees Only)

NEW PDF LINK - Tracing Your Origin (For ALL Korean Adoptees)

Korea Social Service (KSS) was one of the 4 major Korean Adoption Agencies designated by the Korean government to process international adoptions beginning in 1976. KSS was the smallest of these Korean Adoption Agencies, sending in total around 20,000 children to the US and Europe (roughly 10,000 to the US and 10,000 to Europe).

To view a list of all known KSS Partner Western Adoption Agencies, please see this page: List of All Known Korea Social Service (KSS) Partner Western Adoption Agencies in the US and Europe. If you were adopted through one of KSS’ Partner Western Adoption Agencies during the time period in which KSS was in partnership with them, then it is possible that KSS was your Korean Adoption Agency. It is important to know what your Korean Adoption Agency was, so that you can do a Birth Family Search through your correct Korean Adoption Agency.

The 4 major Korean Adoption Agencies designated by the Korean government to process international adoptions beginning in 1976 were:

  1.  Holt Korea (not to be confused with Holt International, which is the Western Holt Adoption Agency

  2. Eastern Social Welfare Society (ESWS) - previously Eastern Child Welfare Society (ECWS)

  3. Social Welfare Society (SWS) - now Korea Welfare Society (KWS)

  4. Korea Social Service (KSS)

Because many Korean Adoptees are ONLY familiar with their Western Adoption Agency (US / European / Australian / Canadian) they often don't know what their Korean Adoption Agency is.

Often, the Korean Adoption Agency is the best place to start for a Birth Family Search (BFS).

If you don’t know what your Korean Adoption Agency was, and you have no way of finding out from your adoptive parents or from your adoption paperwork (where we recommend starting if possible) then simply check this link:

EDIT, January 2025:  - Please see the NEW PDF links below for information about the corresponding Korean and Western adoption agencies:

NEW PDF LINK: Tracing Your Origin (For ALL Korean Adoptees)

NEW PDF LINK (For US Adoptees Only)

US Adoptees can also file a FREE FOIA request. Amongst other things, your FOIA request will return documents with your Korean Adoption Agency listed on them. However, some Korean Adoptees were adopted privately directly from Korean Orphanages, through the use of an intermediary such as a lawyer. In such cases, your adoption would likely not have been processed through a Korean Adoption Agency.

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Regarding Korea Social Service (KSS) ONLY:

The information below describes the relationship between the Korean Adoption Agency Korea Social Service (KSS) and its Partner Western Adoption Agencies in the US and Europe.

If you can identify your US or European Adoption Agency from the list in the sectionbelow, then you may have been a Korea Social Service (KSS) Adoptee.

KSS was the smallest of the 4 major Korean Adoption Agencies, having adopted "only" around 20,000 children internationally - around 10,000 to the US, and around 10,000 to Europe we believe.

Please contact us if you are a KSS Adoptee for some important information. KSS Adoptees ONLY are also welcome to join the private Facebook group KSS Cribmates.

Sources of KSS Children Sent For International Adoption By The Korean Adoption Agency Korea Social Service (KSS) + The Relationship of KSS To Its Partner Western Adoption Agencies: 

Some of us were Relinquished directly to KSS in Seoul, and some of us were Relinquished to KSS feeder orphanages in or outside of Seoul. KSS sourced children from all around Korea, but three major “feeder” orphanages were Nam Kwang Orphanage in Busan, Star of The Sea Orphanage in Incheon, and Choon Hyun Babies Home in Gwangju (Jeolla Province, not Seoul). All three of these “feeder orphanages” remain open and you can find out how to visit / request information from them here.

Some of us were Relinquished to: 

  • KSS in Seoul 

  • Feeder Orphanage (in or outside of Seoul)

  • Hospitals, Birth of Maternity Clinics (in or outside of Seoul)

  • Single / Unwed Mothers’ Homes (in or outside of Seoul)

  • Churches (in or outside of Seoul)

  • Police Stations (in or outside of Seoul)

  • Found Abandoned (in or outside of Seoul)


We use the term “Relinquishment” to describe when a child is given up by birth family or other non-related individual/s (such as police officers, doctors, midwives, citizens, etc.). to a Korean Adoption Agency (such as KSS in Seoul) or to another site of FIRST Relinquishment. 

We know and acknowledge that not all children sent for adoption were voluntarily Relinquished. Many children were acquired by an Adoption Agency rather than being voluntarily Relinquished by birth parent/s. Many children who went “missing” ended up too quickly sent by police stations to orphanages or adoption agencies, then sent overseas for adoption. 

Children were also abducted, and many birth families were pressured or coerced into Relinquishing their children for adoption, with promises of a better life, or other more underhanded means of acquiring children for adoption. Korean birth parents who visited orphanages and adoption agencies looking for their missing children were often told they would have to pay an exorbitant fee in order to get their child/ren back, or were told that their child/ren had already been adopted overseas (even if the child was still at the orphanage or adoption agency).

Korean Adoption Agencies could have gotten children from anywhere in Korea, through many different means. 

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KSS was a Korean Adoption Agency which had its own on-site Orphanage: The K.S.S. Receiving Home in Seoul. 

Adoptees often confuse KSS as only an Adoption Agency or only an orphanage, but KSS was both an Adoption Agency and Orphanage in ONE. However, only a Korean Adoption Agency - not an orphanage - could process children for international adoption (at least since 1976). KSS was one of the 4 major Korean Adoption Agencies designated by the Korean government since 1976 to process international adoptions.

KSS tore down the majority of its campus in 2016, without preserving any significant part of it for visitation by KSS Adoptees. However, one last “Post Adoption Services” building remains in the area where KSS used to be located, where KSS Adoptees can still meet with a social worker for an in-person file review upon request. All KSS Adoptees’ files remain at KSS’ “Post Adoption Services” building in Seoul. Please see the Illustrated Step By Step Guide here to learn how to request your Korean Adoptive Child Study Summary and to initiate a birth family search through KSS in Seoul.

KSS adopted children through a network of Partner Western Adoption Agencies in the US and Europe from 1964-2012:

*Please note that if your US or European adoption agency is NOT on the list above, then you are NOT a KSS Adoptee. Please do NOT contact KSS if KSS was not your Korean Adoption Agency, as this only wastes limited resources.

The Korea Social Service, Inc. (KSS) Logo from an ENGLISH Adoptive Child Study Summary (this document was alternately called a “Case Study Record” or a “Child Study Summary” in the 1960s). Learn about how this document was used to “orphanize” so many KSS Adoptees and learn about the KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary which has the more truthful information about your origins. For KSS Adoptees ONLY: Learn how to request your KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary here. If you a US Adoptee and are unsure what your Korean and US Adoption Agencies were, and you have no access to your adoption documents, we highly recommend filing a FOIA request. If you are NOT a KSS Adoptee, please do NOT initiate a Birth Family Search through KSS.

We Wrote KSS History With Our Lives.

It’s ironically fitting that we should have to piece together the history of KSS ourselves, given that many Korean Adoptees have been given little information about their history by their Korean or Western Adoption Agencies. This is an evolving story, with many contributors. Thank you to those who have shared their stories and their recollections with us! Every bit of info. is valuable to us.

We Believe That The Basis of Truth In Korean Adoption Is Comparison.

We all grow up naturally believing that our adoption stories are unique and special. And many, but not all, of us have led good lives with our adoptive families. But it’s important to understand the history of how we came to be adopted in such high numbers from Korea to the West. KSS adopted at least 20,000 of us to the US, Netherlands, Denmark, and Switzerland between 1964-2012. (Please note that KSS partnered with different Western Partner Adoption Agencies during different time periods). We were processed en masse out of Korea in a bureaucratic system in the midst of the “purifying society” under the rule of Korea’s post-war dictators. Many of us (though not all) have great difficulty in getting the truth about our histories from our Korean and Western adoption agencies. We believe that in comparing information with one another, and by sharing information about ourselves that we know, that we can come to find deeper truths about our adoptions from Korea.

From a KSS Adoptee’s ENGLISH Adoptive Child Study Summary. There is more truthful information in the KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary, possibly though not always including birth parent name/s.

Learn how to request these documents from KSS here.

There is information which you should know if you are a KSS Adoptee which we will not be posting publicly. Connect with us via our Facebook Groups for more info:


For Korea Social Service (KSS) Adoptees ONLY, we recommend that you join our PRIVATE Facebook group called KSS Cribmates here.

*Please note that you must be able to demonstrate that you are a KSS Adoptee in order to join. Please be sure to answer the Membership Questions. Those who do not answer Membership Questions will not be accepted. Thank you!

We encourage you to “Like” our PUBLIC “Paperslip” Facebook page here.

Photos and Important Information About KSS Adoption Files:

Top: The main Administrative building of The K.S.S. Receiving Home in Seoul. The 2nd floor was used as a Nursery at least in the 1970s, and the first floor contained administrative offices. Unfortunately all of the buildings on The K.S.S. Receiving Home’s campus have been torn down except for one small building which KSS uses for its Post Adoption Services. It is in the one remaining Post Adoption Services Building where KSS Adoptees can schedule an in-person file review meeting with a social worker, typically but not always Ms. Choon Hee KIM, who has worked at KSS since 1975 or 1976. Find out how to start an online Birth Family Search through KSS here.

Bottom: A portion of an Adoptive Child Study Summary for a US Adoptee from the 1970s. The ENGLISH Adoptive Child Study Summary is a document in English which was sent to prospective adoptive parents in the US or Europe by KSS through its Partner Western Adoption Agencies (see complete list above). This English Adoptive Child Study Summary often says (particularly for children at KSS in the 1960s and 1970s) that a child was “found with a paper-slip” or “memo” in her / his “clothings” and that birth parents are “unknown”. However, what many Adoptees don’t know is that this frequently utilized copy / paste false “Orphanization” statement was used by KSS (as well as the other Korean Adoption Agencies) to “orphanize” children who often (though not always) had known biological family. Korean Adoptees had to be considered “orphans” according to the legal definition by the Western receiving countries (US, Netherlands, Denmark and Switzerland) in order to be adopted. Therefore, KSS (as well as the other Korean Adoption Agencies) frequently used the “found with a paper-slip” or “memo” false “Orphanization” statement in order to get children adopted to the West.

What many Adoptees don’t know is that KSS has a KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary which often has more truthful biographical information at its Post Adoption Services building in Seoul. Please contact us to find out how to request access to your KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary.

Please Refresh / Reload When You Revisit Our Website.

We are constantly adding new information, so if you have previously visited certain pages of our website, please be sure to Refresh / Reload each page you have previously visited, in order to see new content. Thank you!