I visited NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do, in March 2026, since I knew the files would be transferred again to The National Archives sometime in 2026. Here’s my advice.
Above: A photo taken during my visit to NCRC in March 2026.
I visited NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do in March 2026, because I believed that the files would likely be transferred again to the Seongam Branch of The National Archives sometime in 2026. I wanted to both VIEW and get a COPY of my former Korean Adoption Agency (KSS) file prior to the SECOND major transfer.
My timing in visiting NCRC to view my file turned out to be right — it was announced on October 2nd, 2026 that the SECOND major transfer of ALL former Korean Adoption Agency files will take place in October, November, and December 2026:
Korean Joong Ang Daily: 240,000+ Korean Adoption Records to Be Inspected, Disinfected, and Transferred to the National Archives in November and December 2026.
Below is a history of the former Korean Adoption Agency file transfers, and what I advise for Adoptees who have NOT already submitted a Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure request to NCRC.
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FIRST transfer of ALL former Korean Adoption Agency files:
Start date: July 19th, 2025
Conclusion date: Sometime in early 2026
From the former Korean Adoption Agencies to NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do:
The first major transfer of ALL former Korean Adoption Agency files, from the former major Korean Adoption Agencies to NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do, began on July 19th, 2025. This centralization of former Korean Adoption Agency files had been mandated by S. Korea’s ratification of The Hague Convention.
S. Korea ratified the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (alternately called the Hague Intercountry Adoption Convention or the Hague Adoption Convention) on June 17th, 2025, which entered into force on October 1st, 2025.
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SECOND transfer of ALL former Korean Adoption Agency files:
Start date: October, November, December 2026
Conclusion date: UNKNOWN — presumed to be early 2027
From NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do to the Seongam Branch of the National Archives:
The SECOND major transfer of ALL former Korean Adoption Agency files, this time from NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do to the Seongam Branch of The National Archives is now slated to happen in November and December 2026. The National Archives has a high standard of document preservation, and thus require that the former Korean Adoption Agency files which have been stored at NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do since July 19th, 2025, be treated for bugs / pests as a condition for entry into The National Archives.
There has been controversy over the method of disinfection of these files. NCRC had the choice between quickly fumigating the files in around one month — the fastest option, but also the option which had the greatest chance of destroying some sensitive paper files. The alternative was to treat the documents in batches over four years of time. We are not totally certain with method has been chosen, but it seems likely that the one month bug bombing option has been selected, given the fact that the S. Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW has announced the timeline of disinfecting the files in October 2026, and subsequently transferring the files in November and December 2026.
Before the MOHW announced this timeline on October 2nd, 2026, I did not know exactly when the SECOND major transfer of ALL former Korean Adoption Agency files would be happening. But NCRC had earlier stated that the SECOND transfer would happen in the first half of 2026.
As it turns out, the Ministry of Health and Welfare recently announced that ALL former Korean Adoption Agency files would be selectively disinfected for pests starting in October 2026, and that they would begin to move from NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do to the Seongam Branch of The National Archives in November and December 2026.
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HYPOTHETICAL THIRD transfer of ALL former Korean Adoption Agency files:
Start date: UNKNOWN
Conclusion date: UNKNOWN
From the Seongam Branch of the National Archives to a hypothetical NCRC Permanent Archive:
Please note that it is POSSIBLE that there could be a THIRD transfer of ALL former Korean Adoption Agency files, at some unknown point in the future. NCRC has proposed building a permanent archive for all former Korean Adoption Agency files (along with other documents from domestic adoption agencies) — however, no concrete plans have yet been made for that. We expect that this project — IF it happens — will be bound by the same budget constraints NCRC and its predecessor organizations have always had.
However, we think that Adoptees should act AS THOUGH a THIRD transfer WILL happen at some unknown point in the future.
If you have not already done so, we recommend that you carefully consider when you should submit a Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure request to NCRC.
We frankly do not know how all of this will shake out.
One point of confusion is that while NCRC operates under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, The National Archives operates under a totally different Korean Government Ministry — The Ministry of Interior and Safety (MOIS). (Personally we’re just happy they didn’t call this The Ministry of Interior and Safety and Transportation (MOIST). Haha.
But we have yet to know how all of this will affect NCRC’s fulfillment of Adoptees’ Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure requests in the midst of this SECOND transfer. We also don’t know where Adoptees should visit during this time to VIEW their file. The disinfection will take place in October 2026 at NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do. NCRC has NOT announced whether it will shut down its Temporary Storage Facility during this time for the disinfection process — of course, this will likely cause anxiety for those Adoptees with scheduled appointments in October 2026 during IKAA.
We do not know whether or not Adoptees will still be able to visit NCRC’s Main Office in Seoul during this time in order to get a COPY of their file. NCRC’s Main Office in Seoul will not be physically affected by the disinfection process, since the files are all currently stored at NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do. However, if the Temporary Storage Facility will be disinfected in October 2026 — which may involve a sort of bug bombing / fumigation process — then presumably NCRC workers may have a hard time accessing files during this time to copy for Adoptees who meet with them at NCRC’s Main Office in Seoul.
We will simply have to wait to see what happens.
Stay tuned!
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My advice for Adoptees who have NOT yet submitted a Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure to NCRC:
If you have not already submitted a Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure to NCRC via the KAS website, I would recommend doing so as soon as possible. Or, if you are more comfortable, I would recommend waiting until early 2027 to submit your request. NCRC will have to transfer 240,000 files, and as with the FIRST transfer, this SECOND transfer will take time for NCRC to organize.
To give an anecdotal scenario of what I did with respect to my own case:
When the FIRST transfer happened starting July 19th, 2025, I knew that it would take NCRC some time to handle the transfer and to get organized.
But I also knew that the SECOND transfer was going to happen at some point in 2026.
So I submitted my Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure to NCRC via the KAS website in February, 2026, and I visited NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do in March 2026 to VIEW my file. I obtained a COPY of my file later — you can only obtain a COPY of your file (currently) at NCRC’s Main Office in Seoul.
(This procedure may change in the future — hard to know). Please note that in order to visit either of NCRC’s current two locations, you have to submit an online Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure. The current procedure is that if you can’t visit NCRC in person, NCRC will fulfill your request online.
I had a pretty smooth experience at NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do and was actually reasonably impressed with their scanning job, and with their provision of a 비식별표 (Table of Redactions), which itemizes all of the documents in my former Korean Adoption Agency (in my case, KSS) file, and lists the page numbers of those pages which NCRC redacted in the copy of my file they gave me.
So I gave NCRC about 7-8 months to settle the FIRST major transfer of all former Korean Adoption Agency files, BEFORE I submitted my request. While the process did not go perfectly, it did work out, and I did receive a photocopy of my former KSS adoption file.
You don’t necessarily have to wait this long after NCRC’s SECOND major transfer to submit your Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure to NCRC. It’s really up to you when you want to do it.
However, I would caution you NOT to wait for years to do this, since a THIRD major transfer may be happening. Each transfer risks loss or damage to the files! We simply don’t know yet if or when a THIRD major transfer will happen — but I would act AS THOUGH it will by around May 2030 (which is when NCRC’s lease on its Temporary Storage Facility ends).
In other words — try to submit your Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure request to NCRC BEFORE the THIRD major transfer might happen! If it motivates you, PRETEND that you only have until October 1st, 2028 to do this. Please know that currently (as of October 2026), NCRC can take up to ONE YEAR to fulfill a purely online request! So please do NOT wait for forever to act, IF you have interest in obtaining as full a copy as your former Korean Adoption Agency file as has EVER been possible!
I should note that you are able to obtain a LOT more information now through a Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure request to NCRC than you EVER were able to obtain directly from the Korean Adoption Agencies. So it is WORTH IT to make a request — you just have to figure out the best time to do it.
Please note that you do NOT have to visit Korea in person in order to obtain a copy of your file. However, for now at least, you have to submit an online Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure request to NCRC in order to either visit either of NCRC’s two locations in person in Korea, or to obtain a copy of your file online. Please note that a document request is not the same thing as a birth family search request, and that you can request one or the other or BOTH when you first submit your Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure request to NCRC via the KAS website. You should NOT request your documents more than once. You can, however, request a birth family search ONCE PER YEAR through NCRC, assuming they have any birth parent information in your file to go on.
Please note that those who visit NCRC in person will be able to get much faster service than those who do not plan to visit. This of course presumes that you are able to book an appointment. NCRC has recently hired more workers, and Adoptees seem to be having their requests fulfilled more quickly than before.
Please note that in order to book an appointment at either of NCRC’s two locations, you must FIRST submit an online Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure request online to NCRC through the KAS website. You can only book an appointment NO LESS than 2 weeks in advance and NO MORE than 2 months in advance.
Try to reason out a sweet spot for when you should submit your request.
Please see:
ALL ADOPTEES START HERE! FAQ + SITE NAVIGATION.
Good luck out there!