How do I know if I am a KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptee?
Above: The former KSS Receiving Home, which was part of KSS’ Main Campus in Seoul. This building, along with KSS’ former campus, was torn down in 2016. KSS operated Post Adoption Services in a small white one story building from 2016-July 19th, 2025. On July 19th, 2025, all KSS files were transferred to NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do. These files may be transferred AGAIN sometime in 2026, this time to the Seongam Branch of the National Archives.
For the current Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure request through NCRC, please see:
ALL Korean Adoptees Start Here! General Birth Family Search Steps Through NCRC — Overview.
+
How do I know if I am a KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptee?
If you’re like me, you probably did not think much about your Korean Adoption Agency — or even understand that there was one — until you were an adult.
As a US KSS Adoptee who was adopted through KSS’ US Partner Adoption Agency Welcome House, I grew up being aware of Welcome House, but had little awareness of my Korean Adoption Agency, KSS (Korea Social Service). This wasn’t because my adoptive parents hid anything from me. But they had had no direct contact with KSS during the process of my adoption — all of their contact had been with Welcome House. So they had very little awareness of KSS, either.
If you do not know or are not sure whether or not you are a KSS Adoptee, there are a number of ways to try to figure it out. Below are our suggestions for how to do that.
+
Ask your adoptive parent/s, if possible.
If your adoptive parent/s are alive and if you have a good relationship with them, this is the first place to start. Most KSS Adoptees were babies or young children when adopted, so would not know based off of personal memories whether or not they were adopted through KSS (unless they were directly told so later, or were old enough at the time of adoption to recall). Adoptive parents’ memories can be faulty, so be sure to verify anything which they tell you about your adoption history, to the extent that you possibly can.
If your adoptive parents are not alive or you are not in contact with them, try to ask anyone else who might know — an older adoptive sibling or relative.
It’s understandable if you are not able to obtain information this way, as everyone has different circumstances.
+
Find and read your adoption documents, if possible.
If possible, find and read your adoption documents. As Adoptees, we often don’t closely look at or read our adoption documents, even if they are available to us — and even if they are in our possession. Take the time to sit down with your adoption documents.
Look to see if you have a document called an “Adoptive Child Study Summary”, which is written in English. We call this the “English Adoptive Child Study Summary”, though your document’s title may vary, depending on which Western country you were adopted to. This document should say “Korea Social Service, Inc.” at the top. This document should also have a roundKSS stamp somewhere on the document.
You can see examples of the KSS specific document called the English Adoptive Child Study Summary here.
The Danish equivalent of what is called in the US the “English Adoptive Child Study Summary” (a term which we coined in 2021) is often in DENMARK called “Information for ADOPTION in Denmark of a foreign child”. A Danish document might say “Adoption Center” at the top, instead of KSS. should have a roundKSS stamp somewhere on the document.
Of course, be sure to check any adoption documents in your possession to see if KSS (Korea Social Service, Inc.) is mentioned on them.
+
Check your adoption documents for specific names related to KSS.
If you have any adoption documents, check to see if any of the following names appear on them:
Names of Individuals:
KSS Founder: Kun Chil Paik
Known commonly as: Kun Chil Paik
Alternately known as: Baek Geun-chil / Paik, Kun Chil / 백근칠.
Deceased
Mr. Young Hee KIM
KSS Director from 1975 — 1994 or 1995 (?)
Deceased
Mr. Won S. Paik
Son of KSS Founder Kun Chil Paik
At some point, he was Director of KSS
Deceased
It is believed Mr. Won S. Paik’s wife is the current owner of KSS.
Mrs. Choon Hee KIM
KSS Social Worker from 1976-2023 or 2024
KSS Director from an unknown date, sometime after Mr. Young Hee KIM retired or passed away
Still alive as of April 2026
Ms. Haenae LEE
KSS Social Worker since sometime in the 2000s
Still alive as of April 2026
Ms. Alice PAIK
KSS Social Worker since sometime in the 2000s
Still alive as of April 2026
For more information on some of the above KSS related individuals, please see:
KSS Historical Figures
+
Names of Places:
Han Hwa Children’s Medical Clinic
This was KSS’ on site one or two room medical clinic, which was founded around 1975.
Bukboo Police Station, Jangwie Police Station
These are common police stations listed in KSS Adoptees’ documents. On their own, this is not proof that you are a KSS Adoptee, since these were presumably real police stations where any child ultimately adopted through any Korean Adoption Agency could have been processed. However, these specific names show up repeatedly in KSS Adoptees’ English Adoptive Child Study Summary documents.
+
Try to determine what your Western Adoption Agency name was.
KSS only adopted through a limited list of Western Partner Adoption Agencies over a set period of time. KSS formed partnerships with these different Western Partner Adoption Agencies at different times, and also concluded their partnerships at different times.
KSS only adopted to the US, Netherlands, Denmark, and Switzerland between 1964-2012.
KSS ONLY adopted through the following list of Partner Western Adoption Agencies during this time frame:
List of All KSS Partner Western Adoption Agencies
*Please note that some of KSS’ Partner Western Adoption Agencies may have partnered with subsidiary Western Adoption Agencies or adoption related organizations which are NOT on the list above. For example, in my own case, even though Welcome House was my US Adoption Agency, Welcome House worked through an adoption related organization which was located closer geographically to my eventual adoptive parents. The name of this adoption related organization is NOT on the list above. So you may need to try to determine, to the best of your ability, all of the details of your adoption from the Western receiving country’s end as it relates to your adoption, to determine whether or not you were a KSS Adoptee.
+
How to rule yourself OUT as a KSS Adoptee.
Understandably, Adoptees CONSTANTLY get the acronyms of the 4 major Korean Adoption Agencies confused.
After all, the 4 major Korean Adoption Agencies were:
1. Holt Korea
2. KWS (Korea Welfare Society) / formerly SWS (Social Welfare Society) / formerly CPS (Chid Placement Services)
3. Eastern Social Welfare Society (ESWS) - formerly Eastern Child Welfare Society (ECWS)
4. KSS (Korea Social Service)
The important thing to understand is that, by and large, KSS ONLY adopted to the US, Netherlands, Denmark, and Switzerland between 1964-2012.
If you were adopted to any other country OTHER THAN the US, Netherlands, Denmark, and Switzerland between 1964-2012, you are NOT likely a KSS Adoptee!
KSS (Korea Social Service) is NOT the same as KWS (Korea Welfare Society).
KSS (Korea Social Service) did NOT adopt to Sweden — that was KWS (Korea Welfare Society).
Please see:
KSS (Korea Social Service) is NOT the same as KWS (Korea Welfare Society). KSS did NOT adopt to Sweden.
+
Check to see if you have any photos or newsletters related to KSS amongst your documents.
Basically, check any documents which you have to see if there is any mention of KSS (Korea Social Service, Inc.)
+
If you know your Western (US, European, Canadian, or Australian) Adoption Agency name, but do NOT know your Korean Adoption Agency name, you can check the corresponding list of Korean and Western Adoption Agency names below.
You can find a list of all 4 major Korean Adoption Agencies and their corresponding Western Adoption Agencies here.
*Please recall that KSS only adopted to the US, Netherlands, Denmark, and Switzerland between 1964-2012.
*There may have been a FEW exceptions, but by and large, KSS did NOT adopt to other Western countries.
+
Some KSS Adoptees had a PRIVATE adoption.
In such cases, there was NO Partner Western Adoption Agency involved.
Some KSS Adoptees had private adoptions directly from KSS - in such cases, either the Western adoptive parents or their representative visited KSS in Seoul or a feeder orphanage and did a so called “named” adoption - where they named (chose) the child they wanted to adopt, and the adoption procedure was completed through a Western lawyer (rather than a Partner Western Adoption Agency) as an intermediary. In such cases, the KSS Adoptee’s Korean Adoption Agency was KSS, and the KSS Adoptee had no corresponding US or European Adoption Agency. (There could be other types of private adoptions about which we are not aware).
If you are a US Adoptee, IN BETTER TIMES, you can file a FOIA request, which is a simple and FREE process. We do NOT recommend that you file a FOIA request right now, with first consulting an immigr. attorney whom you trust. Please be sure to read the information about FOIA requests at the link above.
Your FOIA documents would tell you what Korean and US Adoption Agencies you were adopted through (if applicable).
If you are a Korean / European or other Korean non-US Adoptee, and you are not sure if you were from the Korean Adoption Agency KSS or not, your K-Number may help to sort it out. Contact us if you would like us to try to help you determine if you were adopted through KSS in Korea or not by sharing your K-Number.