Should I submit requests for my Korean adoption documents and /or a birth family search through NCRC, or should I file a case with TRC 3 instead?
Should I submit requests for my Korean adoption documents and /or a birth family search through NCRC, or should I file a case with TRC 3 instead?
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To address this question, first we need to describe a bit about NCRC and TRC 3.
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Section 1: NCRC
Regarding the Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure request process through NCRC via the KAS website:
Korean Adoptees who are interested in searching for their birth family and do not already have identifying information about their birth parent(s) — such as their name(s), date(s) of birth, address(es), or, in rare cases, 13-digit resident registration number(s) — and/or who wish to view and / or request a copy of their former Korean Adoption Agency file, should submit a Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure to NCRC through the KAS website.
Please note that only Adoptees who plan to visit NCRC’s TWO locations in Seoul to both VIEW and obtain a COPY of their file will have expedited requests — assuming that Adoptees are able to survive the gauntlet of booking appointments at NCRC’s two locations — appointment availability is NOT guaranteed.
Those Adoptees who do NOT plan to visit NCRC’s TWO locations in Seoul to both VIEW and obtain a COPY of their file will have to wait for between 5 months - up to one year for their purely online requests to be fulfilled by NCRC.
Please note that you can opt to request a birth family search AND your former Korean Adoption Agency file; or just a birth family search; or just your files.
For more info. on the NCRC process, please see the links at the bottom of this page.
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Section 2: TRC 3
Korean Adoptees who are interested in submitting their case for TRC 3 should understand that the TRC 3 process is not fundamentally a birth family search process, and that TRC 3’s goal is not explicitly to provide Korean Adoptees with adoption documents.
In fact, even assuming that an Adoptee’s case is accepted by TRC 3 and investigated, and that a judgment issued in an Adoptee’s case, the Adoptee must still — at the end of TRC 3 — submit a form to request the materials obtained by TRC 3 during the course of their investigation of the Adoptee’s case.
The TRC 3 process is about holding the Korean Government accountable for past human rights abuses. TRC 3 is not ONLY about overseas adoption — it is primarily related to past human rights abuses in Korean History, dating back to the time of Japanese occupation. One victims’ group is Overseas Adoptees. The cases of Overseas Adoptees which are accepted for investigation — noting that not all submitted cases will be accepted — will be investigated by the new Third Subcommittee of TRC 3.
While some “Korean Rights” groups are pushing as many Adoptees as possible to file TRC 3 cases — regardless of the amount of evidence Adoptees do or do not have to prove wrongdoing — these groups are doing so without explaining that TRC 3 will likely prioritize those cases with the strongest evidence, which many unfortunately Adoptees lack.
It’s important to know that TRC’s submission period for NEW cases is between February 26th, 2026 - February 25th, 2028.
For more info. on the TRC 3 process, please see the links at the bottom of this page.
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Question:
Should Adoptees file a Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure to NCRC via the KAS website, or should Adoptees file their case with TRC 3?
Our Advice:
Why not do both?
Though the NCRC Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure is deliberately confusing and arduous, it CAN be done. Even though it may take up to one year for an Adoptee to obtain their former Korean Adoption Agency file from NCRC, Adoptees should bear in mind that the TRC 3 process may last through around 2030 (though the deadline for submission of NEW cases is February 25th, 2026).
In other words — there’s time (at least as of this writing on July 7th, 2026) to request and obtain information from NCRC, and to submit that information as evidence to TRC 3.
In fact, filing a Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure to NCRC via the KAS website is ironically a “faster” way and more “reliable” way to obtain a copy of your former Korean Adoption Agency file than filing your case with TRC 3. This is true especially if you are able to visit NCRC’s TWO locations in person. This presumes however that you are able to successfully book appointments at BOTH of NCRC’s locations — and that you are first able to VIEW your file at NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do, and THEN obtain a COPY of your file at NCRC’s Main Office in Seoul.
Even if you do NOT visit NCRC’s two locations in person, and instead do the entire NCRC purely online through the KAS website, your wait time is still going to be around 5 months - 1 year for fulfillment of your request. Considering that TRC 3’s submission deadline is not until February 25th, 2028, Adoptees who submit a Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure request to NCRC via the KAS website fairly soon (at least one year prior to TRC 3’s deadline) theoretically have time to obtain their former Korean Adoption Agency files from NCRC, which can potentially be used as evidence for TRC 3.
It should be noted that IF your case is accepted by TRC 3, you should be allowed to submit further evidence once you obtain it.
The more evidence you are able to obtain for your case, the better. So we strongly advise those that have interest in submitting a new case to TRC 3 to submit their Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure to NCRC via the KAS website, as soon as possible.
Anyone with an interest in submitting a Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure to NCRC via the KAS website should take some time to thoroughly READ our FAQ page here:
ALL ADOPTEES START HERE! FAQ + SITE NAVIGATION.
The NCRC process is tricky. Anyone who plans to visit Korea and to visit NCRC’s TWO locations in order to both VIEW and obtain a COPY of their file should plan their trip MONTHS in advance, and NOT book their flight and hotel UNTIL they have confirmed their appointments at NCRC’s TWO locations.
For anyone who wishes to submit their case INDEPENDENTLY to TRC 3, please see:
Paperslip links related to submitting your case INDEPENDENTLY to TRC 3.