TRC Notice: “Regarding the recent fire at NIRS, the (TRC) informs users that no individual records of overseas adoption applicants were lost or damaged…” Yet the TRC Notice OMITS critical information.
Notice posted to TRC’s website. *Yellow highlighting ours.
Update — March 17th, 2026:
We correctly sussed out the truth behind what is NOT said in the TRC 3 Notice (pictured above), which was posted to the TRC ENGLISH website ONLY, sometime on or around March 16th, 2026. This TRC Notice was clearly made in response to concerns which we first raised on March 8th, 2026. Our concerns, which are egregiously and indefensibly still being denied by some Korean Adoptee led groups, have turned out to be 100% validated by our subsequent fact finding.
Please see:
Debate Over: TRC 2 Affected in NIRS Fire, Multiple Sources Confirm.
President Lee Jae Myung’s blog highlights the restoration of two TRC 2 systems that were impacted by the National Information Resources Management (NIRS) fire on September 26th, 2025.
Notice from the National Information Resources Service (NIRS): Status of Information System Recovery + Complete System List —includes Two TRC 2 SYSTEMS which were affected by the fire but RECOVERED.
Statement by the Korean Association of Archivists: (We) “Strongly Urge the Establishment of a ‘Records Management Division’ in the 3rd Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC 3).”
Update — March 16th, 2026:
This “Notice from the National Information Resources Service (NIRS): Status of Information System Recovery and Complete System List” appears to offer definitive PROOF that TWO TRC 2 SYSTEMS were affected by the fire at the National Information Resources Service (NIRS) on September 26th, 2026, as we have previously written about here.
Please see:
Notice from the National Information Resources Service (NIRS): Status of Information System Recovery + Complete System List —includes Two TRC 2 SYSTEMS which were affected by the fire but RECOVERED.
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Our earlier questioning about WHY the TRC Notice was posted ONLY on the ENGLISH TRC website and NOT on the KOREAN TRC website, turns out to be wholly validated by the fact that we now know for 100% fact that TWO major TRC 2 SYSTEMS were affected by the NIRS fire on September 25th, 2025, and later recovered.
Below is our speculation about why TRC posted information about the NIRS fire to their English and not their Korean website:
By posting the recent Notice ONLY on their English website and NOT on their Korean website, the TRC may have acted on the assumption that Korean natives were likely already aware that both TRC 2 systems were affected by the NIRS fire on September 26th, 2026. It is possible that TRC chose not to share information about the NIRS fire’s impact on TRC 2 on the Korean website because the local audience was already informed. Alternatively, TRC may have deliberately decided not to notify its Korean audience about the fire’s effects on TRC 2. The extent of publicity in Korea regarding the NIRS fire’s impact on TRC 2 remains unknown.
It is disheartening that the recent Notice on the English TRC website did not convey the full impact of the fire — especially since Overseas Adoptees are less likely to be aware of events in Korea, making such information all the more crucial.
Indeed, this lack of awareness among Overseas Adoptees is reflected in the ongoing and indefensible DENIAL by a Korean Adoptee led group — purporting to represent TRC 3 submissions by Adoptees — that any TRC 2 related information had been affected by the NIRS fire. This group has also falsely stated that TRC 2 records were transferred to the National Archives, when we have clearly demonstrated that they were instead transferred directly to TRC 3.
Because TRC 2 records were NOT transferred to the National Archives, as would normally occur at the conclusion of a TRC investigation, but were instead sent directly to TRC 3 to maintain continuity between commissions, they remained vulnerable to unforeseen events — most notably the NIRS fire on September 26th, 2025, which coincided with the winding down of TRC 2. This risk was further compounded by the absence of a formal “Records Management System” in both TRC 2 and TRC 3. Indeed, these very vulnerabilities prompted the Korean Association of Archivists and The Hankyoreh to bring the issue to public attention. Are we all caught up now?
The inability of this Korean Adoptee led group — despite its claim to represent others submitting cases to TRC 3 — to acknowledge well-documented facts from highly credible sources raises serious concerns about its trustworthiness. We strongly caution Korean Adoptees to safeguard their privacy with great care. In particular, Adoptees should consider submitting their cases INDEPENDENTLY to TRC 3, rather than through any representative group, and should carefully REDACT any sensitive personal information included in their submissions.
The NIRS fire issue has raised serious concerns in Korea and now amongst Adoptees — thanks to our fact finding — about the lack of a “Records Management System” by TRC 2 and TRC 3.
Adoptees should proceed with the understanding that if they submit their cases to TRC 3 — whether through a representative group or INDEPENDENTLY — their private and sensitive adoption documents may be processed using AI for translation and could potentially be shared with third parties, including leaders of Korean Adoptee led organizations.
Although TRC protocols are intended to protect confidentiality and prevent the sharing of such documents with external group leaders during investigations, there are reports that this standard was not consistently upheld during TRC 2. In particular, the presence of only one English speaking investigator handling Overseas Adoption cases may have contributed to documents being shared more broadly than intended or allowed.
Please see:
If a TRC 3 representative group of Korean Adoptees is unwilling to operate in a world of facts, why would you hand over to them your own private adoption documents?
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.
Are my documents secure during the TRC 3 process?
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UPDATE — March 17th, 2026.
Please note that the text below was posted shortly before we discovered additional proof (documented in the links above) that TRC 2 was affected by the NIRS fire on September 26th, 2025. We are leaving the original post below unchanged, as our earlier speculation below about why TRC shared information only on its English website and not on its Korean website now appears to be correct in light of the new evidence regarding the fire’s impact on TRC 2. We had correctly noted that, although TRC’s notice stated that “…no individual records of overseas adoption applicants were lost or damaged” in the NIRS fire, it conspicuously omitted stating that the TRC 2 had not been affected AT ALL by the NIRS fire.
Now that we know with complete certainty that TWO major TRC 2 systems were affected by the NIRS fire — and were later recovered — our earlier questions regarding the TRC English Only Notice were clearly justified.
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The post below is from March 16th, 2026 —
Paperslip Note:
Please be sure to read this entire page CAREFULLY, before jumping to conclusions. We do NOT believe that everything is just perfectly fine, and that NO TRC 2 data was affected by the National Information Resources Service (NIRS) fire on September 26th, 2025.
Currently, TRC has NOT entirely made clear what TRC 2 data was destroyed in the NIRS fire.
We think it is very important to note that — if this were true — TRC could easily have stated on their ENGLISH and KOREAN websites that, “Absolutely NO TRC 2 data was destroyed by the NIRS fire” — but TRC DID NOT state this. In fact, TRC has so far (as of March 16th, 2026) NOT stated ANYTHING about the NIRS fire on its KOREAN website AT ALL.
The only thing which TRC has stated on its ENGLISH website ONLY is that:
”…no individual records of overseas adoption applicants were lost or damaged” in the NIRS fire.
But…what about “non-individual” records of overseas adoption applicants — such as the investigations themselves? What about non-Overseas Adoption records in general?
In this statement by TRC, it is what is NOT said which speaks loudest.
Let’s put on our critical thinking hats, and accept that sometimes things in the world are not just black and white with a happy ending.
Please read the Notice by TRC below carefully, and note what IS said, and what is NOT said in the (ENGLISH ONLY) Notice.
TRC has recently posted this Notice to its ENGLISH website ONLY.
NO such notice appears on its KOREAN website (as of March 16th, 2026).
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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.
Notably, does TRC 2 consider “investigation” files to be different from “individual records of overseas adoption applicants”? There is no clarification about this in the TRC ENGLISH Notice.
We believe it’s still possible that “non-individual” records related to the TRC 2 investigation into Overseas Adoption may have been affected by the NIRS fire. So far, TRC has not clarified this.
Whatever the case, the concerns raised by The Association of Korean Archivists and The Hankyoreh regarding TRC 2 and TRC 3’s lack of a “Records Management Division” are clearly of critical importance to ALL victims’ rights groups represented by these commissions.
We also find it notable that NO equivalent Notice has yet (as of March 16th, 2026) been posted to TRC’s KOREAN website. Since it was clearly OUR concern at Paperslip that caused TRC to respond on its ENGLISH website (and we are Overseas Adoptees), we do not know what the absence of a similar Notice on its KOREAN website means.
Bear in mind that the TRC 2 and TRC 3 investigations involve far more victims’ rights groups than just Overseas Adoptees (many of whom are English speaking). ALL of the other TRC 2 victims’ groups are composed of native Koreans, and it is for them that the KOREAN TRC website is directed. So we do not know if other TRC 2 data apart from Overseas Adoptees’ data was affected by the NIRS fire on September 26th, 2026. Importantly, the TRC has yet to clarify that.
Until the TRC clarifies if any other TRC 2 data that was not connected to the “individual records of overseas adoption applicants” was destroyed in the NIRS fire, then we stand by what we have previously written about here.
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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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THEREFORE:
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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The article below 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 specific details had been provided. We absolutely do NOT 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, as well as to all represented victims’ rights groups who are engaged with the TRC — and this information certainly should NOT be repressed!
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Notably, the NIRS fire happened on September 26th, 2025 — just as TRC 2 was winding down at the end of 2025. (TRC 2 took place between 2020-2025, while the TRC 2 investigation into Overseas Adoption took place between 2022-2025). It is possible that there was just no TRC 2 Public Relations staff member on hand at that point to clarify what had — if anything — happened to TRC 2 data during the NIRS fire.
Currently, TRC 3 is just ramping up at the beginning of 2026. It may be some time before Adoptees are able to get further clarification about exactly what data was and was not destroyed in the NIRS fire. According to an unofficial observer in Korea, it is entirely possible that the TRC 3 commission itself does not know exactly what was, and what was not destroyed in the NIRS fire.
Whatever the truth is regarding what TRC 2 data was and was not destroyed in the NIRS fire — which we frankly, may never know — this issue highlights the BROADER issues with the lack of a “Records Management System” within TRC 2 and TRC 3.
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We additionally want to note that a Korean Adoptee led 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.
When we shared information which contradicted this Korean Adoptee led group’s FALSE information to our own PUBLIC Facebook page, we were predictably BLOCKED by this other group. It is this constant BLOCKING and GHOSTING behavior of these supposed “Korean Rights Groups” which we have WARNED others about for years. This behavior is one of the MANY reasons we so strongly encourage those who wish to submit their cases to TRC 3 to do so INDEPENDENTLY.
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.