ALL Korean Adoptees Start Here:
General Birth Family Search Steps Through NCRC — Overview.

Posted to Paperslip on July 23rd, 2025.

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DISCLAIMER:
Paperslip.org is run entirely by Korea Social Service (KSS) Adoptee volunteers. We are not affiliated with, nor do we represent, any Korean or Western Adoption Agencies, nor any government bodies such as NCRC (National Center for the Rights of the Child) or KAS (Korea Adoption Services).

The information we share has largely been gathered and verified through our own efforts, due to the lack of clear guidance from both Adoption Agencies and Korean Government institutions. While we strive to provide accurate and helpful resources for Adoptees, we ask for your understanding that we operate independently, and do not speak on behalf of any official organizations involved in adoption or birth family search.

It is up to YOU to independently verify any important information related to your birth family search process, and to act responsibly according to your own best interests. We take NO RESPONSIBILITY for the accuracy of the information presented here which may change over time, or about which we may not be aware and have thus omitted. If you spot anything which you think we should update, please let us know via email. Our knowledge is only as strong as the information which is shared with us by the community.

Thank you!

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For general questions about the transfer of ALL Korean Adoption Agency files to the Korean Government Agency NCRC please see:

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)— Regarding The Movement Of ALL Korean Adoption Agency Files to NCRC (National Center for the Rights of the Child) Beginning July 19th, 2025

KSS Adoptees And ALL Korean Adoptees:



*For the most relevant pages related to the future of birth family search AFTER July 19th, 2025, please see the DROPDOWN MENU on Paperslip’s homepage titled:



”AFTER July 19th, 2025, ALL Birth Family Search Requests Must Be Processed Through NCRC/KAS”:

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This page is relevant to ALL Korean Adoptees. However, please note where there is information specific to KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptees ONLY.

KSS (Korea Social Service) — please see the bottom of this page for IMPORTANT information!

Please note — we strongly recommend reading over this page in its entirety before proceeding to submit any requests to NCRC via the KAS website. We of course recognize that everyone is at a different stage of their adoption journey, and not all steps below may apply to you. However, we recommend reading this page before acting — particularly as NCRC requests have a time limit, and you need to be prepared before making any requests to NCRC.

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Please be advised that the adoption files of the WESTERN Adoption Agencies — the partner adoption agencies in the US, Europe, Canada, and Australia — will remain with those Western adoption agencies, and will NOT be transferred to NCRC (which has locations in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do, Korea).

IF your Western adoption agency is still open, you should try to obtain documents from them — though be advised, they may charge you a fee.

KSS (Korea Social Service Adoptees) ONLY please see:
List of All KSS Partner Western Adoption Agencies

In the future, US Adoptees will hopefully once again have the ability to obtain adoption records through a FREE FOIA request — though starting around March 2025, FOIA requests have been coming back around 80% redacted, rendering them largely useless. We certainly hope that this changes in the future and goes back to normal — please monitor our FOIA page for info.

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PREFACE:

We strongly advise that you READ this entire page BEFORE submitting any requests to NCRC via the KAS website! 

*NCRC = National Center for the Rights of the Child
NCRC is a Korean Government Agency that as of July 19th, 2025 handles ALL birth family search requests by Korean Adoptees around the world!

*KAS = Korea Adoption Services
KAS is a former Korean Government Agency which no longer exists, but NCRC continues to use its website

There’s a lot to understand about the process, and it’s important to note that the NCRC is not a general consumer or customer service experience in which you can ask them unlimited questions and expect unlimited answers. They have a very small team — likely only 6 to 8 birth family search workers total — who are responsible for handling ALL Korean Adoptee search requests from around the world!

Following the July 19th, 2025 start date of the transfer of ALL Korean Adoption Agency files to NCRC — nearly 300,000 files — NCRC birth family search workers are going to be overwhelmed by this monumental task, which unfortunately the Korean Government has underfunded. Therefore it behooves you to help NCRC to help you by getting organized BEFORE you submit any requests!

You are allowed to submit only ONE birth “Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure” (family search request) per year, and there is a limited window of time (around 45 days) during which your request will be processed by NCRC.

So, please make sure you read the instructions carefully and fully understand the process before contacting NCRC or submitting any requests to NCRC via the KAS website. It’s also essential to gather and organize your most relevant adoption documents (if you have them) before submitting your Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure (birth family search request) to NCRC via the KAS website.

Please Understand That Extraordinary Changes Are Happening In The World Of Birth Family Search In 2025! It Will Not Be An Easy Time Going Forward. 

As readers of Paperslip know, we don’t like to sugarcoat things, as we don’t think that further gaslighting Adoptees does them any favor.

The landscape of birth family search is radically changing due to the movement of ALL Korean Adoption Agency files to the Korean Government Agency NCRC starting July 19th, 2025.

Now, ALL Korean Adoptees from around the world who have an interest in birth family search will have to submit a Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure (birth family search request) to just ONE Korean Government Agency: NCRC — via the KAS (Korea Adoption Services) website. This gives NCRC extraordinary power over the paper histories of ALL Korean Adoptees on the planet.

It’s important to understand the context surrounding the transfer of files to the NCRC. This historic handover — involving all privately held records from Korean Adoption Agencies — effectively places these documents in the custody of the S. Korean state via the NCRC. Significantly, this transfer is occurring in the midst of the ongoing investigation by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea (TRC/TRCK) into overseas adoption practices.

For more information on the TRC/TRCK, please refer to the dropdown menu on our homepage titled: “Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea (TRCK).”

Only the naive will believe that NCRC most strongly serves the interests of Adoptees — NCRC most strongly serves the interests of the S. Korean state.

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IMPORTANT:
Read Why We Think You Should Submit Your “Petitition for Adoption Information Disclosure” Request/s To NCRC No Later Than 2028 / EARLY 2029:

IMPORTANT DATES

Step 1:
Locate, Obtain and Scan Your Adoption Documents, If You Have Any.

We can’t stress this enough:

IF you have or can obtain any adoption documents — scan and back up your adoption documents in multiple formats! In other words, print your documents, and store them both physically and digitally somewhere safe. You may never be able to obtain these documents again.

Also — if you have interest in birth family search in Korea, you will have to submit a “Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure” (birth family search request) to NCRC via the KAS website AFTER September 15th, 2025. We cannot more strongly recommend that at the time of your submission that you submit CLEAR copies of your most relevant adoption documents in PDF format. This is to help NCRC identify you — since they will be overwhelmed with the transfer of ALL Korean Adoption Agency files to NCRC starting July 19th, 2025.

You may need to ask your adoptive parents for your adoption documents, if possible. We understand that this is not always possible to do.

In the future, US Adoptees can once again file a FREE FOIA request in order to obtain US-side adoption records — you can still do that now, but as of March 2025, FOIA requests are coming back at around 80% redacted — something which is not normal. Please see our FOIA page for more information.

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Scan your most relevant adoption documents. Make sure that the final scan is legible and not blurry.

ESPECIALLY if there is birth parent information in your documents — such as name, birthdate, or age of birth parent/s — be sure to scan the relevant documents and put the documents into PDF format.

However, no matter whether or not there is birth parent information in your adoption documents in your possession, you should scan and submit in PDF format ANY relevant documents that help to identify you with your orphan name, birthdate, social welfare history, etc. 

It’s understandable if you do not have any adoption documents. 

WARNING:

We want to warn you — IF you currently have birth parent information that is NOT redacted in the adoption documents already in your possession, and you LOSE these documents — you may NEVER be able to get this important information again! Due to very STRICT privacy law, NCRC will NEVER provide you with unredacted birth parent information. So PLEASE be sure to BACK UP ANY adoption documents already in your possession in MULTIPLE FORMATS — print and digital! And be sure to submit any of the most relevant information to NCRC via the KAS website in PDF format at the time that you make your Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure (birth family search request)!

This is SO important because Adoptees cannot fully trust that NCRC will be able to locate your accurate adoption records following the massive transfer of ALL Korean Adoption Agency files to NCRC. So IF you already have birth parent information in your adoption documents — KEEP THAT SAFE! You may never be able to obtain that information again!

Please do NOT assume that NCRC will be able to properly locate your documents in the immediate aftermath of the file transfer — and frankly, never assume that NCRC will have the file transfer under complete control. The files currently at NCRC’s temporary storage facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do may only be there for 5 years — before they have to move AGAIN to a (hopefully) permanent facility. However, that facility has not yet been located or built by NCRC.

There is great risk that adoption documents can get mixed up, damaged, or lost during the multiple transfers of files from one facility to another. So please — if you are put into a reunion with birth family, be sure to take a DNA test to confirm your relationship. There is a real danger of false reunions happening if files are mixed up during the transfer.

Because the NCRC birth family search process is NOT transparent to Adoptees, we strongly advise you to help NCRC help you by providing them with PDF copies (NEVER originals) of the adoption documents already in your possession — ESPECIALLY if your documents contain unredacted birth parent information (such as name/s and birthdate/s or birth year/s). However, even if your documents do NOT contain birth parent information, we still highly recommend that you submit these documents in PDF format so that NCRC can identify you.

If you do not have any adoption documents, then do not worry — you can still make your requests to NCRC.

Please see:

Now More Than Ever, Safely Back Up Any Documents You Have Which Contain Birth Parent Information!

Step 2:
Visit the KAS (Korea Adoption Services) website and create a login.

*KAS no longer exists but NCRC still uses its website. Please be advised that Adoptees have experienced issues with this outdated website — which is built on a 2016 platform — for YEARS.

We are including the KAS website link below, but we STRONGLY recommend you read this entire page and understand an overview of the process BEFORE you submit anything to NCRC via the KAS website!

NCRC will only spend a limited number of days on your case — so if you are unprepared at the time of your submission of your “Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure” to NCRC via the KAS website — for example, if you have not obtained and scanned your documents — you could potentially RUN DOWN THE CLOCK!

KAS (Korea Adoption Services) website:

https://www.kadoption.or.kr/en/root/adpt_info.jsp

Please note you can make ONE birth family search request PER YEAR.

Step 3:
Submit Your “Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure” To NCRC via the KAS Website.

Watch the instructional video below first. Be sure to have your adoption documents scanned Into PDF format BEFORE your submission to NCRC via the KAS website!

(Please see the KAS website link in the section above).

When you submit your “Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure”, be sure to ALSO upload your most relevant documents in PDF format — ESPECIALLY if they contain birth parent information! However you should also submit any adoption documents which help to identify YOU.

Please note that NCRC told us during our visit in June 2025 that they would be updating the website design at some point after July 19th, 2025. We do not know exactly when they will do that.

Below: NCRC’s Old Video for submitting a Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure (birth family search request) through the *now KAS website.

*Please note that KCARE is a former Korean Government Agency which preceded NCRC.

We think this video gives a general overview — NCRC shared this video with us during our June 2025 visit.

Step 4:
Read About NCRC’s New Partnership With The Korean NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) NEST.

It’s important to understand that IF NCRC is able to locate your birth family member/s, and IF they agree to communicate or meet with you, NCRC will then refer your case to the Korean NGO NEST to facilitate communication with your birth family and help you coordinate your trip to Korea to meet with them. NEST will also provide translation services. Please be sure to read the page below for more detailed information:

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT —
NCRC Partners With Nest: “Support For Visits To Korea And Reunions With Birth Families” A Program For Overseas Adoptees.

Address and Contact Info For Important Locations Related To Birth Family Search Through NCRC

Step 5:
Starting October 2025:
Visit NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility — Which Houses ALL Korean Adoption Agency Files After July 19th, 2025.

ALL Korean Adoption Agency files began to be transferred to NCRC starting July 19th, 2025. If you wish to do an in-person file review with an NCRC government worker, you can make a reservation — however NCRC has not yet specified how. We assume this will be through the KAS website. Please see:

Records At NCRC’s Temporary Storage Facility In Goyang, Gyeonggi-do To Be Publicly Accessible Starting October 2025

Address and Contact Info For Important Locations Related To Birth Family Search Through NCRC

Step 6:
Read About Adoption Certificates.

Adoption Certificates are important, sometimes time-sensitive bureaucratic documents which you need for certain aspects of birth family search and related needs — particularly when you are doing birth family search in Korea.

Please Note — You only need Adoption Certificate/s — which are not historical documents, but only documents which are used for modern day requests of varying types — for the following purposes:



-If you plan to apply for an F4 Visa or Dual Citizenship

-If you plan to visit Korea for on-the-ground birth family search, and plan to visit Jumin Centers, City Halls, or Police Stations

-If you plan to take the Korean Missing Persons / KNPA DNA test at a police station in Seoul

-If you plan to take the Korean Missing Persons / KNPA DNA test at a Korean consulate in your Western country of Adoption (this requires the NCRC Certificate from NCRC)



Please note that with the exception of the NCRC Certificate for the purpose of taking the Korean Missing Persons / KNPA DNA test at a Korean consulate in your Western country of Adoption, the OTHER types of Adoption Certificates typically expire after 3 months from their date of issue. 



AFTER July 19th, 2025, the responsibility for issuing Adoption Certificate/s will transfer to NCRC.

Please be sure to read and understand:

ADOPTION CERTIFICATES - NCRC Will Accept Applications From July 19th, 2025 — Via Email!

Step 7:
Visit NCRC’s Main Office in Seoul.

If you wish to visit NCRC’s Main Office in Seoul, you will need to schedule an appointment by phone. Please see below for more info.

It’s important to understand that NCRC’s role in the birth family search process is to handle your “Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure” (birth family search request) and to send 3 registered letters to the last known address of any known birth parent/s in your adoption file.

Please note that NCRC’s sending 3 registered letters to the last known address of any birth parent/s constitutes ONE birth family search attempt — and Adoptees may request a NEW birth family search from NCRC via the KAS website ONCE PER YEAR.

It often takes more than one attempt before any birth family member will come forward — this is often due to intense shame surrounding the relinquishment of a child. Unfortunately, the process is not transparent to Adoptees, who often internalize a failed birth family search attempt as rejection. However, there are many reasons for a birth family member to be reluctant to come forward — often to do with remarriage, and a former child still being a secret to a new spouse / children. It can take a lot of persistence and patience and unfortunately there are no guarantees with this process.

Please note that NCRC has 2 locations.

NCRC’s main office in Seoul does NOT have the physical adoption files which were transferred from ALL Korean Adoption Agencies starting July 19th, 2025. Those records are all stored at NCRC’s temporary storage facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do.

Things you can do at NCRC’s main office in Seoul:

If you have a disability, you can set up an appointment to have a file review at NCRC’s main office in Seoul, instead of at its temporary storage facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do.

If you are experiencing issues with creating a log in or with the KAS website, you can ask for help at NCRC’s main office in Seoul.

If you wish to try to send a more personal letter to a birth parent through NCRC, you can try to get help at NCRC’s main office in Seoul.

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Only IF NCRC is able to locate your birth family member/s, and only IF they agree to communicate or meet with you, NCRC will then refer your case to the Korean NGO NEST to facilitate communication with your birth family and help you coordinate your trip to Korea to meet with them. NEST will also provide translation services. Please be sure to read the page below for more detailed information:

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT —
NCRC Partners With Nest: “Support For Visits To Korea And Reunions With Birth Families” A Program For Overseas Adoptees.

Address and Contact Info For Important Locations Related To Birth Family Search Through NCRC

NCRC’s Main Office In Seoul:

*Please note that NCRC has VERY few birth family search workers. Please DO NOT frivolously email / contact NCRC as they only have a few birth family search workers to handle ALL Korean Adoptee requests from around the WORLD!

Please note that you CANNOT submit your “Petition for Adoption Information Disclosure” (birth family search request) to NCRC via email — you must use the KAS website.

NCRC Email: familysearch@ncrc.or.kr

You may only hear back from NCRC a few times, so make your emails to them matter! Organize what you are requesting from them in advance! NCRC is NOT a well organized customer service experience where you can ask them an unlimited number of questions. Please understand this BEFORE you contact them - and ORGANIZE your information and questions accordingly in advance!

Please note that most NCRC workers do NOT speak English. However, they can WRITE to you via email in English.

Ridiculously, if you wish to make an in-person appointment at NCRC’s main office in Seoul, you may need to hire a translator to CALL NCRC — since their phone system is only in Korean! However, they may require that the Adoptee make the appointment! Hopefully, NCRC will have a way to schedule appointments through the KAS website in the future — currently, we do not believe there is a way to do that.

*Please note that NCRC main office in Seoul does NOT offer WiFi for visitors!

Step 8:
IF NCRC Locates Your Birth Parent/s And They Agree To Have Contact, NCRC Will Transfer Your Case To The Korean NGO Nest To Facilitate A Reunion.

Please see:

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT —
NCRC Partners With Nest: “Support For Visits To Korea And Reunions With Birth Families” A Program For Overseas Adoptees.

Address and Contact Info For Important Locations Related To Birth Family Search Through NCRC

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You May Be Able To Get Your Birth Parents’ Names From NCRC If You Have A Proven *Life Threatening Genetic Disease — But NCRC Will Always Make This Difficult.

Please Note — It is extremely hard to get information from NCRC this way — even though by law, it should be possible. Please do not think that just because you have a minor illness that NCRC is going to fully disclose your birth parent information. Please do not waste anyone’s time trying if you do not have a life threatening medical concern. Sadly, it has previously been a battle for even those who have major life threatening illnesses to obtain information from NCRC in this way.

Nevertheless, one Adoptee wrote (in 2022): “I discovered that if you have a genetic disease, you can get your adoption record with the full details of your parents via NCRC. You do need a medical statement of your doctor that says you have a genetic disease with the contact details and signature of your doctor. For some diseases it’s clear that it’s a genetic disease even though you don’t know your biological background. This is how I got my birth mom’s full name and birthdate.”

One frustration which Adoptees experience when working with NCRC is the capriciousness of differing experiences. Contact NCRC for more info. IF you are suffering from a major life threatening illness (NOT a minor medical issue). You will probably get a lot of pushback from them — fair warning.

Step 9:
DNA Testing.

We cannot more strongly recommend that any Adoptees interested in birth family search take ALL possible DNA tests.

Also, due to anticipated issues with the transfer of ALL Korean Adoption Agency files to NCRC, we are seriously worried about the possibility of more Adoptees winding up in false reunion with the wrong birth parents. Please be sure to DNA test against any birth parent/s with whom NCRC puts you in contact.

The Korean Adoptee organization 325Kamra can assist you with DNA testing in Korea. NEST should also be able to assist you with DNA testing in Korea.

Please see our DNA Testing page for more info:

DNA Testing

Step 10:
Visiting Korea.

We cannot more strongly recommend that any Korean Adoptee visit Korea at least once in their lifetime, if possible — even if you have no interest in birth family search. There are various subsidized trips for Adoptees. For more information please see:

Korean Adoptee Resources - MAIN

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Please note that IF you have birth parent information (meaning first and last names and birthdate or at least birthyear) in your adoption files already in your possession, there are alternative routes to search to NCRC. These routes generally require going to Korea in person and are never a guarantee.

Step 11:
Book A Private Zoom Advisory Session With Us If You Need Personalized Help.

For those who need assistance with understanding the changing landscape of birth family search, and what their various options are, please see our Advisory Sessions page below. An hour of our time might save you a significant amount of wasted money and time by giving you a roadmap through your options for birth family search:

Advisory Sessions

*Additional Information For KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptees ONLY.

*Please note that KSS (Korea Social Service) is NOT the same as:

-HOLT Korea (not to be confused with Holt International, which is the Western Holt Adoption Agency)

-Eastern Social Welfare Society (ESWS) - formerly Eastern Child Welfare Society (ECWS)

-Korea Welfare Society (KWS) / formerly Social Welfare Society (SWS)

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KSS Adoptees should be aware that KSS provided their adoptive parents with a typically 3 page document known as the “English Adoptive Child Study Summary”.

However, secretly KSS kept a document called the “KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary”, which we only figured out how to request and obtain in 2021.

KSS Adoptees — please look at your documents to see if you have one or both of these document types. Your document may not have the exact same title, and the style of the “Korean Adoptive Child Study” changed over time — so please look at our examples (linked above) carefully and compare them to your documents.

Most KSS Adoptees and their adoptive parents were never provided with the formerly secret “Korean Adoptive Child Study”. We helped KSS Adoptees obtain this document from 2021-2025. Now that ALL KSS files have been transferred to NCRC, NCRC has told us TWICE that KSS Adoptees will still be able to receive the “Korean Adoptive Child Study” from NCRC. We are very much hoping that this will be the case, as sometimes the “Korean Adoptive Child Study” has birth parent information — or other tidbits of information — which the “English Adoptive Child Study Summary” does not.

So be sure to request and obtain the “Korean Adoptive Child Study Summary” from NCRC if you do not already have it.