KSS-specific documents are now available from NCRC, such as the “Request Form for Preparation of Domestic Affiliation Documents,” along with other KSS documents.
Please note that this page is subject to copyright, as is the other original content of Paperslip.org.
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This is a KSS (Korea Social Service) specific document which can now be obtained from NCRC:
국내소속서류작성의뢰서
“Request Form for Preparation of Domestic Affiliation Documents”.
Please note that this is a graphic representation (NOT a photograph) of the KSS file folder of a FAKE KSS Adoptee we made up for the purposes of this example:
FAKE KSS / Welcome House Adoptee “KIM Yu Jun”, with KSS K-Number K-1758.
The image above may NOT be reproduced or shared without permission. This image and the documents belong to the author. You are welcome to share a link to this page on Paperslip.org directly. Thank you.
Please Note: At right is a graphic representation of what a KSS Adoptee’s “English Adoptive Child Study Summary” might look like in the context of their KSS file, which for now is housed at NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do. The style of this document varied over time. The link above shows the varying styles of the English ACSS. This document is typically 3 pages long, but the number of pages may vary somewhat.
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I photographed this document in 2018, which was taped in the inside front cover of my own file at KSS, prior to the transfer of ALL former Korean Adoption Agency documents to NCRC on July 19th, 2025.
This is a one page document which KSS used internally to track the progress of a child through its system — from intake to export date. It’s essentially a one page summary of a child’s entire processing through KSS’ system.
The “Child Number” at the upper left was not one which KSS shared with its Western Partner Adoption Agencies, adoptive parents, or Adoptees. I know this from interviewing the Director of KSS on film in 2021, and from previous meetings at KSS from 2018-2024.
The absolute meaning of the “Child Number” was never explained to me in full, but I believe it’s logically related to the sequential intake of a child by KSS. In my own case, the “Child Number” is a 4 digit number. KSS’ Director more or less confirmed this though has never given a hard definition of this number’s meaning. Logically, the “Child Number” is at the upper left, at the start of a child’s “journey” through KSS’ system, and the “Departure” date from Korea is at the lower right. You can draw your own logical conclusions about the “Child Number’s” likely meaning based on its placement.
KSS’ Director informed me in 2021 that not every KSS child had a Child Number — even during the time period, such as the 1970s, when the Child Number was definitely in use by KSS. This has been borne out by my own observation of many 1970s KSS files. It was also apparently not a number used throughout its entire history from 1964-2012. It appears to have been phased out at some point after the 1970s, though the precise starting and ending point is unknown.
The “Passport Number” at the bottom is the Travel Certificate number, the style of which varied over time, according to our original and copyrighted research.
You can now obtain the 국내소속서류작성의뢰서 /
“Request Form for Preparation of Domestic Affiliation Documents” document from NCRC — at least, prior to the coming SECOND transfer of ALL former Korean Adoption Agency documents from NCRC to the Seongam Branch of the National Archives, which may happen at a currently unannounced time in 2026.
I am sharing this document now, so that KSS Adoptees will know what this is if when they obtain a copy of it from NCRC through a Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure request.
This KSS document is taped into the inside front cover of all KSS’ Adoptees’ file folders. Only one other KSS Adoptee that I know of has ever seen this document before.
I viewed this document inside my KSS folder at NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility in Gyeonggi-do, following the July 19th, 2025 file transfer from KSS to NCRC, in March 2026. This means that KSS preserved this document in advance of the file transfer to NCRC.
Please note that I have not previously publicly shared about this document. However, I have known about it since 2018, and have shared about it privately amongst KSS Adoptees since 2020.
No one has publicly shared about this document previously. You will not find a reference to a KSS document titled “국내소속서류작성의뢰서” which pre-dates this first PUBLIC publication.
To learn how to submit a Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure request to NCRC, please see:
ALL Korean Adoptees Start Here!
General Birth Family Search Steps Through NCRC — Overview.
Please note that the procedures for birth family search may change after all former Korean Adoption Agency files move from NCRC to the Seongam Branch of the National Archives, sometime in 2026.
Please note that the contents of your KSS file may vary. However, presumably ALL KSS Adoptees have this document taped to the inside front cover of their KSS file folders, which are — for now — housed at NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do.
Please see:
My visit to NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do.
Please note that if you are NOT a KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptee, you will NOT have this document in your adoption file.
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Below are the KSS documents involved in the processing of children for international adoption of which we are currently aware, for KSS Adoptees sent to the US.
*Please note that I originally wrote this around 2020, but have only decided to publicly share this partial “KSS Adoption Procedure” list publicly now. It has been shared privately with KSS Adoptees since 2020.
*Please note that KSS adopted to the US, Netherlands, Denmark, and Switzerland between 1964-2012 through a specific list of Partner Western Adoption Agencies. However, as a US Adoptee, the list below is based primarily on my own documents, as well as those of a few other KSS Adoptees who were adopted to different countries.
This PUBLIC list is to help enable KSS Adoptees to identify documents which they receive from NCRC.
Please note that I have not significantly updated this list since around 2020 or 2021. I may revise it in the coming days.
Several of these documents — such as the “Korean Adoptive Child Study Summary”, the “English Adoptive Child Study Summary”, and the “Domestic Affiliation Document Preparation Request” form (see top of page) are documents which I discovered in my own KSS file in 2018 and photographed.
Paperslip has been the only site to identify and publicize these documents.
I have previously shared a more extensive “KSS Adoption Procedure” page privately with KSS Adoptees — however, given that KSS Adoptees can now obtain most of these documents from NCRC, I decided to share this list publicly so that KSS Adoptees can try to identify their own matching documents.
Please note that KSS Adoptees’ documents will vary.
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First published to Paperslip privately in 2020. Slightly revised and posted PUBLICLY on April 8th, 2026:
Below are the KSS documents involved in the processing of children for international adoption of which we are currently aware, for KSS Adoptees sent to the US. Please note that there was likely a great deal of overlap (similarity) between these documents for children sent to the US and Europe. However, KSS Adoptees are also known to have documents specific to each country to which KSS is known to have adopted: the US, Netherlands, Denmark, and Switzerland. Please note that there are likely more documents (to which we do not have access or about which we are not aware) which KSS used than are in the list below. It is highly unlikely that every KSS Adoptee will have ALL of the documents in their KSS file folder which are listed below:
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Report of finding to Seoul City Hall / Police
Korean: (Will update)
Application for the Appointment of a Guardian for a Minor Orphan in a Protective Facility
Korean: 보호시설에 있는 미성년자인 고아의 후견인 지정신청서
Report of Commencement of Guardianship
Korean: 후견 개시신고서
KSS Transfer of Guardianship / Guardian's release of custody and translation
Korean: 후견권 이양각서
ChatGPT Translation: Guardianship Transfer Agreement / Transfer of Guardianship
Certificate of Guardianship
Korean: 보호시설에 있는 미성년자인 고아의 후견인 지정증명원
ChatGPT Translation: Certificate of Appointment of Guardian for a Minor Orphan in a Protective Facility
Family / Birth Registration (Orphan Hojuk) / Hojukdungbon
May alternately be called: Certificate of OrphanhoodDocument to name the surname for the abandoned child
Korean: 기아의명 및 본적을정한조서
ChatGPT Translation: Report Specifying the Name and Registered Domicile of an Abandoned Child
Request To Start The Family Line
Korean: 성 및 본창설허가청구
ChatGPT Translation: Petition for Permission to Establish Surname and Registered Origin
Older Papago Translation: Request for permission to establish a family line
Report Establishing the Name and Registered Domicile of an Abandoned Child
Korean: 기아의명 및 본적을 정한조서
ChatGPT Translation: Report Establishing the Name and Registered Domicile of an Abandoned Child
Papago Translation: Declaration of name and domicile of Kia (child).
Report of Discovery of an Abandoned Child
Korean: 기아발견신고
ChatGPT Translation: Report of Discovery of an Abandoned Child
US Embassy Documents
Often these US Embassy Documents were Korean / English documents, many of which are mentioned amongst this list. The US Embassy Documents do not appear to include the English or Korean Adoptive Child Study Summary.
Medical Records / OPD (Outpatient Department) Charts
Children appeared to have undergone physical examinations at KSS prior to their departure from Korea. Some exams appear to have taken place at KSS’ on-site “Han Hwa Children’s Medical Clinic”. However, some children may have been treated at hospitals.
Police Reports - possibly known as “Baby Cards”
Baby cards are almost impossible to obtain.
Baby cards (Korean: 아동카드) were often the first administrative document in case of foundlings. The police wrote down the basics like name (if left on a note or the orphan knew by heart), date, time, location, site specifics like "sitting in front of green door of yellow bricked house" etc. and a picture. These baby cards were afterwards kept at the local city hall. A baby card is an all Korean document and very basic, but can include clues that later on were omitted by the church/orphanage/adoption agency. (These cards were made) only when the police were involved and that was mostly the case when a child was found on the streets. Whether orphanages complied with the rules when a child was left behind on the doorsteps is unclear.
It seems that some city halls are in possession of baby cards, and some orphanages / may still have them. It’s on a case by case basis.
Please Note: Not every child was found by police, and therefore, not every child will have a baby card.
KSS “Korean Adoptive Child Study Summary”
Hanja:入養兒童調書
This document sometimes though not always contains birth parent name/s or sibling name/s and other information about where the child was born or found (such as the name of the maternity clinic or hospital).
KSS “English Adoptive Child Study Summary”
This document is one of the primary documents of “Orphanization” used by KSS and its Partner Western Adoption Agencies. An endless number of KSS Adoptees sent to the US, Netherlands, Denmark and Switzerland were led to believe through their often false English Adoptive Child Study Summaries that they had been “abandoned” and found with a “paper-slip” or “memo” in their “clothings” (sic). However many KSS Adoptees have come to find that KSS kept a secret document, the “Korean Adoptive Child Study Summary”, and that this form had information about their birth parent/s and often sibling/s. The word “paper-slip” and “memo” were words used repeatedly by KSS to Orphanize children for adoption.
“Physical Examination for Emigrant”
Korean: 이주희망자건강진단서
ChatGPT Translation: Health Certificate of the Primary Applicant
Please note that this form literally says in ENGLISH at the top: “Physical Examination for Emigrant”
A medical document which includes a photo of the child who was examined at a hospital or medical facility in Korea prior to the child being sent to the West.
Korean Travel Certificate (The text on the cover may alternately say “Travel Certificate” or “Passport”). This document is not usually in a KSS Adoptee’s file, as it was sent with the child when they traveled from Korea to the West for adoption.
The KSS“Domestic Affiliation Document Preparation Request” Form or “Internal Process Documents Request” Form.
Korean: 국내소속서류작성의뢰서
This formerly secret document is taped to the inside front cover of each KSS Adoptee’s file. It sometimes contains a “Child Number” in the upper left which we presume to be an unencoded, purely sequential number given to a child when first Relinquished to KSS care, prior to the child being assigned an encoded K-Number once the child was “matched” by KSS to one of its Western Partner Adoption Agencies. However we do not know for sure what this number represents. This document appears to be a short one page bureaucratic summary of the child’s processing through KSS’ system, from intake to export from Korea.
Birth Certificate
출생증명서
Photographs
Child photos are found typically in the back of the KSS file folder in a small square envelope taped to the inside back cover of the folder. Sometimes KSS keeps birth parent letters in this envelope — if applicable. Photos of adoptive parents and adoptive family may be elsewhere found in the KSS file folder.
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Most KSS Adoptees are far less likely to have these documents in their file folder — however, a few KSS Adoptees have previously obtained them, prior to the transfer of all Korean Adoption Agency files to NCRC on July 19th, 2025:
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1.) 고아증명서 / “Certificate of Orphanhood”
2.) 해외입양이민승락서 / "Overseas Adoption Immigration Consent Form"
3.) "주민등록표 등본" / "Resident Registration Certificate"
4.) 入養者記錄表 / "Adoptive Parent Record Form"