KSS Adoptees can now obtain additional records from NCRC (after the July 19th, 2025 file transfer). Use this guide to identify key KSS documents that should be in your KSS file at NCRC.
Our AI visualization of NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility in Goyang, Gyeonngi-do. ALL former Korean Adoption Agency files — including those of KSS — are stored (at least for now) at this location.
For IN PERSON visits to NCRC: Adoptees must FIRST successfully book an appointment at NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility in Goyang, Gyeonngi-do in order to VIEW their file. They must subsequently book an appointment at NCRC’s Main Office in Seoul to get a COPY of their file.
For both ONLINE only requests to NCRC, and for IN-PERSON visits to NCRC’s TWO locations, Adoptees MUST FIRST submit a Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure requests to NCRC via the KAS website.
For IN PERSON visits: BOTH of NCRC’s TWO locations require an online booking, which can be made between 2 weeks - 2 months in advance. Please be sure to CONFIRM your NCRC appointments BEFORE you book your travel to Korea! Otherwise, you will probably NOT be able to visit NCRC, and you will leave Korea empty handed, without your KSS file!
Please CAREFULLY READ the FAQ section about NCRC here for more information:
ALL ADOPTEES START HERE! FAQ + SITE NAVIGATION.
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Please Note:
This post applies to KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptees ONLY.
Please see related:
Illustrated Catalog of Known KSS Documents.
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DISCLAIMER:
Please note that while we do our best to keep Adoptees up to date on the latest birth family search procedures, ultimately YOU are responsible for your own birth family search decisions!
NCRC may change its policies, procedures and practices without notice, and we will only know of changes if you INFORM us. Please contact us at paperslipadoptee@gmail.com if you have any updates about NCRC’s policies, procedures, and practices.
Thank you!
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PREFACE:
KSS Adoptees should be aware that they are now (after July 19th, 2025) able to request and obtain their “complete” KSS file through a Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure request to NCRC via the KAS website.
Even if you have previously obtained some adoption documents from KSS, or worked with NCRC prior to the July 19th, 2025 file transfer, you are likely to be able to obtain MORE documents from NCRC NOW than you have previously been able to do PRIOR to the July 19th, 2025 transfer.
Please note that you will get the FASTEST services by booking IN PERSON appointments at BOTH of NCRC’s TWO locations — FIRST at NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do to VIEW your file, and THEN at NCRC’s Main Office in Seoul to get a COPY of your file.
We strongly recommend that you NOT book your flight and hotel UNTIL you are able to confirm that you have successfully booked your two NCRC appointments!
NCRC may need a few days to make a COPY of your file, so try to book your appointment at NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do (to VIEW your file) FIRST, towards the START of your trip in Korea — and then book your SECOND appointment at NCRC’s Main Office in Seoul around 3-4 days LATER.
NCRC may tell you at their Temporary Storage Facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do that they will “email you your file”. You may think this means “soon” — but NOPE, this means that you will have to wait for 5 months to up to one year to receive your file online!
So please be sure to book a SECOND appointment at NCRC’s Main Office in Seoul — a few days AFTER your FIRST appointment at NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility — to get a COPY of your KSS file! Otherwise, you will leave Korea empty-handed!
The NCRC process is designed to make you FAIL, so please be sure to plan your trip to Korea MONTHS in advance!
You can only book appointments at NCRC’s TWO locations between 2 weeks — 2 months in advance. There are very limited slots available, depending on when you plan to visit.
Please note that NCRC will CLOSE for major KOREAN Holidays! NCRC will also be busiest in the Summer months and when there are major Korean Adoptee conferences or Adoptee tours in town!
Appointments at BOTH NCRC locations are necessary to obtain a COPY of your KSS file!
You will need to submit an online Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure BEFORE you can book appointments at NCRC’s two locations.
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You do not have to visit NCRC in person in order to get a copy of your KSS file — however, for PURELY ONLINE requests, you will have a wait time of around 5 months to up to 1 year for fulfillment of your Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure to NCRC.
(For context, prior to the file transfer to NCRC on July 19th, 2025, KSS took around 3-5 months for fulfillment of birth family search and document requests).
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IF you are able to visit NCRC’s TWO locations in person, we strongly recommend that you do so, so that you can both VIEW your KSS file, and get a COPY of it very quickly.
We think you are best of BOTH VIEWING AND getting a COPY of your file in Korea, if possible.
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IMPORTANT NOTE:
It’s important to understand that if you do NOT submit a Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure to NCRC, that NCRC will NOT scan your file!
While birth family search may not be important to you now, it may be in the future.
We think it’s important to have NCRC scan and send you your former KSS file BEFORE ALL former Korean Adoption Agency files MOVE AGAIN at some unknown point in the future! Each time that these adoption files are moved, there is a risk of loss or damage.
So we STRONGLY RECOMMEND that you submit a Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure to NCRC, so that NCRC WILL scan your file!
NCRC has a long and notorious track record for LOSING DOCUMENTS, so the longer you wait, the higher the odds that your former KSS file could be PERMANENTLY LOST!
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To learn more, please be sure to CAREFULLY READ the FAQ section about NCRC on the FAQ page below:
ALL ADOPTEES START HERE!
FAQ + SITE NAVIGATION.
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How do I know that KSS Adoptees can obtain more documents now through NCRC than they could before?
This is because I have spent YEARS repeatedly returning to KSS to attempt to obtain information from KSS, prior to the July 19th, 2025 transfer of all former Korean Adoption Agency files — including those of KSS — to NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do. I have visited KSS in 2018, 2019, 2021, and twice in 2023.
For many different reasons, I was able to get farther than most KSS Adoptees in terms of adoption paperwork acquisition, and am amongst perhaps ten to twelve KSS Adoptees who have ever been allowed to search KSS’ file room myself. (I only directly know of one other). I did so in 2019 and 2021 at KSS’ former Post Adoption Services building in Seoul. Multiple adoption experts have told me that, compared with most Adoptees, I have been able to obtain more adoption documents than they have ever seen. It’s because of this that I can assist other KSS Adoptees in determining which documents SHOULD be included amongst their KSS adoption files.
Despite the fact that I photographed what I believed to be the majority of my KSS file in 2018, I have also returned to Korea in March 2026 to visit NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do, specifically to MAKE SURE that certain KSS documents had been transferred from KSS to NCRC. It turns out, to my relief, that certain important documents which should be included in ALL KSS Adoptees’ files (the ones listed below this section), were indeed transferred to NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do.
Tragically, certain other types of documents, however, may not have been.
In my own case, I was able to obtain a copy of my “complete” KSS file (such as it was). I WAS able to obtain some documents I had NOT been able to obtain from KSS before. I personally believe it is definitely worth it for ANY KSS Adoptee with an interest in birth family search to go through the NCRC process to request and obtain their former KSS file.
It may also be useful to do this even for those KSS Adoptees who have no interest in birth family search — but who may wish to apply for an F-4 visa or dual citizenship. Certain documents in your KSS file may be useful for these processes, though I am not an expert in matters related to living in Korea.
Please see related:
My visit to NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do.
My KSS (Korea Social Service) file from NCRC.
Illustrated Catalog of Known KSS Documents.
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Below is a guide to help you identify key KSS documents that SHOULD be in your KSS file at NCRC.
Document Type 1:
English Adoptive Child Study Summary
Some Danish KSS Adoptees may have a document called “Information for ADOPTION in Denmark of a foreign child”.
This is effectively the Danish “English Adoptive Child Study Summary”.
Please click the link above to see examples of this document.
Please note that the STYLE of this document changed over time. Please be sure to review the various STYLES of this document so you can identify your own!
Special Note:
KSS LIED TO YOU IF THEY SAID THEY DID NOT HAVE YOUR “ENGLISH ADOPTIVE CHILD STUDY SUMMARY”.
I know from assisting hundreds of KSS Adoptees between 2021-2025 in requesting and obtaining their KSS adoption documents directly from KSS that KSS frequently LIED about something important. KSS frequently told KSS Adoptees that they DID NOT have a copy of the Adoptee’s “English Adoptive Child Study Summary”. However, in my own case, a copy of my “English Adoptive Child Study Summary” WAS INDEED in my KSS file. I had seen this directly in my file at KSS in 2018, and it was also included in the copy of my KSS file which I obtained from NCRC in 2026.
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Document Type 2:
The formerly secret
KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary
Please click the link above to see examples of this document.
Please note that the STYLE of this document changed over time. Please be sure to review the various STYLES of this document so you can identify your own!
The formerly secret KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary was not regularly obtainable from KSS until 2021 when we accidentally figured out how to request and obtain this document from KSS.
You probably DO NOT have a copy of this document unless you either:
-Received your formerly secret Korean Adoptive Child Study Summary from KSS between 2021 and 2025 with our assistance (or others’ assistance based on our original research),
-Obtained it by visiting KSS in person, or
-Received it from NCRC after KSS records were transferred there on July 19th, 2025.
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Document Type 3:
The formerly secret
국내소속서류작성의뢰서
“Request Form for Preparation of Domestic Affiliation Documents”
Please click the link above to see examples of this document.
Please note that the STYLE of this document MAY have changed over time (we do not currently know). We have only seen examples of this document from the 1970s. However, this document is the FIRST document in your KSS / NCRC file. It may be labeled / stamped as “Page 1” at the bottom of the page by NCRC. This document (at least in the 1970s) was ALWAYS taped to the INSIDE FRONT COVER of each KSS Adoptee’s file folder.
The vast majority of KSS Adoptees DO NOT have a copy of this document unless the Adoptee received it from NCRC after KSS records were transferred there on July 19th, 2025.
This is because the document above was NEVER obtainable from KSS prior to the transfer of all former KSS files to NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility on July 19th, 2025. VERY FEW KSS Adoptees are likely to have in their possession, as KSS NEVER shared this document with Adoptees. We photographed this document at KSS’ Post Adoption Services building in 2018 and are the first and only ones to have ever published information about this document.
This document is taped to the inside FRONT cover of each KSS Adoptee’s file.
We know for a fact that KSS transferred this document in individual KSS Adoptees’ files to NCRC.
If you are able to obtain a copy of this document, please contact us at paperslipadoptee@gmail.com
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Document Type 4:
이주희망자건강진단서
Physical Examination for Emigrant.
Please search the page linked above for “Physical Examination for Emigrant” (use Ctrl + F or Cmmd + F with the exact phrase: “Physical Examination for Emigrant”).
Many (though perhaps not all) KSS Adoptees will have a “Physical Examination for Emigrant” form in their former KSS file. The original document is typically a thicker brown paper with a black and white photo of the child attached to the upper right corner of the document. The document typically has the child’s KSS K-Number typed or handwritten at the top of the document.
Some, though not all, KSS Adoptees have had this document in their possession since the time of their adoption. In other words, their adoptive parents were provided with this document at the time of a child’s adoption.
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Document Type 5:
Photo/s of you at KSS as a baby or child.
Above: This is a photo illustration we made for a FAKE KSS ADOPTEE named “KIM Yu Jun”, in order to illustrate what a KSS file looks like.
Taped into the FRONT of the file is the formerly secret 국내소속서류작성의뢰서 “Request Form for Preparation of Domestic Affiliation Documents”.
Taped in the BACK of the file is a small square paper envelope, containing photo/s of the baby or child when she or he was first at KSS. In rare cases, this small square paper envelope contains birth parent letter/s, which may be unknown to the Adoptee (since KSS rarely shared them).
There may also be additional photos sent by adoptive parents to KSS — since often Korean birth parents wanted updates on their children. Whether or not KSS ever shared these photos with the birth parents is impossible for us to know, and would depend on each Adoptee’s case.
Taped into the inside BACK COVER at the very back of EVERY KSS Adoptee’s file folder is a small square paper envelope, containing photo/s of the baby or child when she or he was first at KSS.
Sometimes (though not often) this small square paper envelope contains birth parent letters, which Korean birth parents wrote to the children they had relinquished (or had stolen from them), hoping to connect with the Adoptee/s. KSS did NOT always let Adoptees know that their birth parents tried to contact them (in fact, KSS rarely let Adoptees know this, unless an Adoptee happened to visit KSS in person, and a KSS social worker felt like sharing such a letter with the Adoptee). In some cases, Adoptees have only found out that a birth parent had attempted to contact them through KSS, after the birth parent had died.
Please note that the only way to find out if any kind of birth parent letter was left for you in your KSS file is to submit your Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure request to NCRC. NCRC will redact any identifying birth parent information in this or any adoption documents containing birth parent name/s and birthdate/s.
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Please Note:
While we believe that almost ALL KSS Adoptees (with very few exceptions) should have the document types listed above in their KSS file (which is now at NCRC), please understand that the OTHER documents in KSS Adoptees’ file may widely VARY.
We have no way to know for certain which OTHER documents (apart from the ones mentioned above) you WILL have in your KSS file, and which files you WILL NOT HAVE in your KSS file.
For other POSSIBLE KSS adoption document types, please see:
Illustrated Catalog of Known KSS Documents.
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Other document sources in Korea:
Please also note that MANY KSS Adoptees were first at “Feeder Orphanages” PRIOR to their eventual transfer to KSS for processing for overseas adoption. These “Feeder Orphanages” kept their own documents, separate from KSS documents. In other words, your KSS / NCRC file will NOT likely contain these separate documents from “Feeder Orphanages”.
You can contact “Feeder Orphanages” separately to see if they have any of your background information.
Common “Feeder Orphanages” for KSS are Nam Kwang Orphanage in Busan and Star of the Sea Orphanage in Incheon. Many of these places still exist and can be visited in person. You can also email them — especially Nam Kwang — to request background information. You do not need to complete any special form in order to request documents, but do be sure to include your relevant information, such as orphan name, birthdate, K-Number, etc. if you email them. They can respond in English via email, but may not speak English in person.
Please see the page below for contact information of all known KSS “Feeder Orphanages”:
Sources of KSS Orphans + Orphanage List.
Please note that KSS itself has admitted that they often used Nam Kwang (and other “Feeder Orphanages”) as fake information in KSS Adoptees’ files — in order to orphanize them and disguise Adoptees’ true origins. There is unfortunately no way for us to know whether or not an individual KSS Adoptee’s background information is true or false.
Unfortunately, the only way to find out if any “Feeder Orphanage” has background information on you is to contact them. Some Adoptees — particularly those who have contacted Nam Kwang — get very little information. A lucky few, however, have managed to obtain information that has led to the finding of their birth family in Korea.
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Some background on KSS’ previous birth family search process:
Above: Our photo of KSS’ former file room at its now PERMANENTLY CLOSED Post Adoption Services building in Seoul. While the building still exists (as of this writing on July 11th, 2026), KSS transferred ALL of the files in these filing cabinets to NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do on July 19th, 2025.
Three KSS social workers worked in KSS’ former Post Adoption Services (PAS) building, which was the last remaining building of KSS’ original campus in Seoul. KSS files were stored in the PAS building from 2016 (when KSS tore down its old campus in Seoul) until July 19th, 2025 (when all KSS files were transferred to NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do).
This photo may not be reproduced without our written permission.
Before the transfer of ALL former Korean Adoption Agency files — including those of KSS — to NCRC on July 19th, 2025, KSS Adoptees were forced to request ONE DOCUMENT AT A TIME from KSS’ former Post Adoption Services office in Seoul via email.
We walked Adoptees through this (NOW OUTDATED) process for free for years — from 2021-2025, prior to the July 19th, 2025 transfer of *all former KSS files to NCRC. We also spent 15 months WARNING KSS Adoptees of the then pending file transfer to NCRC. Unfortunately, our warnings about NCRC’s severe bottlenecking and other never resolved issues were completely warranted.
Even if KSS Adoptees visited in person — either at KSS’s former Seoul campus (before most of it was demolished in 2016) or at its former Post Adoption Services (PAS) office on the edge of that campus (before the PAS office *PERMANENTLY CLOSED on July 19th, 2025) — KSS Adoptees were almost always subject to the discretion of KSS social workers, who decided which, if any, documents Adoptees could receive copies of.