TRC [Notice]: “Regarding the recent fire at NIRS, the (TRC) of Korea informs users that no individual records of overseas adoption applicants were lost or damaged in connection with this incident.”
Notice posted to TRC’s website. *Yellow highlighting ours.
TRC has recently posted this Notice to its website:
Paperslip Note:
Please read the Notice by TRC carefully below, and note what IS said, and what is NOT said in the Notice.
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“Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea (TRC)
진실·화해를위한과거사정리위원회
[Notice]
Regarding the recent fire at the National Information Resources Service (NIRS), the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea informs users that no individual records of overseas adoption applicants were lost or damaged in connection with this incident.
Thank you.”
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We want to note that while it is a tremendous relief that TRC has stated that “no individual records of overseas adoption applicants were lost or damaged” in connection with the National Information Resources Service (NIRS) fire on September 26th, 2025 — TRC has NOT stated that no TRC 2 records at all were lost or damaged in connection with the NIRS fire.
From the translated “Statement by the Korean Association of Archivists”, originally published in Korea on February 19th, 2026 below:
”Unfortunately, when a fire at the National Information Resources Service in September 2025 destroyed the G-drive, the TRC’s investigation record data stored there was also lost. Investigators attempted recovery efforts, but it appears that complete restoration was not achieved. Since proper records management processes before and after storage had not been established and professional staff had not been assigned to the work, the commission could not prepare for such a contingency.”
Paperslip Note:
Unfortunately, the statement above by the Korean Association of Archivists does not specify what is meant by “TRC’s investigation record data”. According to TRC’s Notice posted at the top of this page, apparently “no individual records of overseas adoption applicants were lost or damaged” in connection with the NIRS fire of September 26th, 2025. However, we still do not know exactly what is meant by “TRC’s investigation record data”. This could mean TRC 2 records OTHER THAN “records of overseas adoption applicants” were affected by the NIRS fire.
Let’s recall that TRC 2 is an investigation NOT ONLY into Overseas Adoption — but into MANY OTHER past historical indicidents in Korea. We still do not know precisedly what “TRC’s investigation record data” was lost in the NIRS fire. But we are relieved that TRC has clarified that “no individual records of overseas adoption applicants were lost or damaged” in connection with the NIRS fire of September 26th, 2025.
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HOWEVER:
Even if NO individual “records of overseas adoption applicants were lost or damaged” in the NIRS fire on September 26th, 2026, it does not necessarily mean that NO TRC 2 related data at all was not lost in the NIRS fire. And whatever TRC 2 data was lost or not lost in the NIRS fire, this incident highlights serious issues with TRC 2 and TRC 3 data management.
Multiple credible outlets in Korea have cited the NIRS fire incident in order to point out BROADER issues with a lack of a ‘Records Management Division’ in TRC 2 and TRC 3. These are still VERY SERIOUS issues which need to be addressed by the TRC in Korea.
Please see:
Statement by the Korean Association of Korean Archivists: (We) “Strongly Urge the Establishment of a ‘Records Management Division’ in the 3rd Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC 3).”
The Hankyoreh Editorial: “Why the 3rd Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC 3) Needs a Records Management Department.”
The Hankyoreh Article: “Records Experts: ‘A Records Management Division Must Be Established in the 3rd Truth and Reconciliation Commission’”.
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This article reports the September 26th, 2025 fire at NIRS, which affected thousands of Korean government files. This article does not specifically mention TRC 2 data:
G-Drive Data Lost in S. Korean Data Center Fire…All Central Government Work Files Gone
We would like to point out that to our knowledge, the NIRS data center fire in Daejeon on September 26th, 2025 was NEVER mentioned publicly in connection with TRC 2 until the recent statement was issued by the Korean Association of Archivists was made on February 19th, 2026. We posted about this on March 8th, 2026 to our Paperslip Blog.
While we are glad that TRC has issued a public Notice regarding this incident, we wish that more details had been provided. We hardly believe that the Korean Association of Archivists and The Hankyoreh are lying about their concerns about a lack of a ‘Records Management System’ for TRC 2 and TRC 3. It is important to understand that the Korean Association of Archivists and The Hankyoreh pointed out the NIRS fire incident in connection to TRC 2 in order to bring to light BROADER issues with the TRC’s lack of a ‘Records Management System’. This should be of great concern to Korean Adoptees, and this information certainly should NOT be repressed.
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We also want to note that a Korean Adoptee group which is acting as a “representative” group for TRC 3 submissions has FALSELY stated that TRC 2 data was transferred to the National Archives of Korea. This is patently FALSE.
TRC 2 data was, according to the News1 article below, transferred directly to TRC 3, specifically IN ORDER TO BYPASS being transferred to the National Archives, which would have caused delays in the continuity between TRC 2 and TRC 3.
Please see:
A News1 Article from February 26th, 2026 shows that TRC 2 files were NOT sent to the National Archives, as has been falsely claimed by some Korean Adoptees.
“Launched to ensure “uninterrupted reckoning with the past”
On January 19, the revised Framework Act on Clearing up Past Incidents for Truth and Reconciliation passed the National Assembly. The amendment specifically states that the law will take effect on February 26, 2026.
This is unusual because most laws typically take effect six months after promulgation.
The date was fixed in order to avoid the time and cost wasted during the transition between the first and second commissions. The investigation period of the second Truth and Reconciliation Commission expired on May 26 last year (2025), and its liquidation period ends on February 26 (2026).
If the third commission (TRC 3) had launched even one day later, the records of the second commission would have been transferred to the National Archives of Korea, forcing the new commission to repeatedly request materials in order to continue its work.
When the second commission (TRC 2) was launched (in 2020) about 10 years after the first, it took more than a year and a half just to scan archived documents from the first commission.
Because the third commission begins immediately, continuity of investigations is expected.”
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In other words, TRC 2 records WERE NOT transferred to the National Archives. TRC 2 records were instead transferred directly to TRC 3, specifically to ensure continuity between TRC 2 and TRC 3.
Since neither TRC 2 nor TRC 3 have an adequate ‘Records Management System’, this should give Korean Adoptees considering submitting their cases to TRC 3 serious pause. At the very least, Korean Adoptees should be sure to carefully REDACT any private, sensitive data which they submit to TRC 3.
Korean Adoptees should ASSUME that their information will be shared with third parties, and will be run through AI for translation. Please remember you are submitting ENGLISH documents to a KOREAN commission. They are almost CERTAINLY going to run your documents through AI for translation.
Please see related:
Are my documents secure during the TRC 3 process?
You Can Submit Your Case To TRC 3 Independently Of Any Group.
Important Links Related To Document Safety and Privacy.