Will NCRC Preserve KSS’ Death Books, Digital Microfiche Files, and Computers?
Posted to Paperslip on July 29th, 2025.
© Paperslip.org — (Photo taken in the early 2020s). Photo of KSS’ former file room at KSS’ former Post Adoption Services building in Seoul. ALL KSS files were transferred to NCRC starting July 19th, 2025.
© Paperslip.org — (Date unknown). Photo of KSS files out in the hallway of its former Post Adoption Services building. Apparently the files were in the hallway, outside of their usual filing cabinets, in advance of a major Korean Adoptee conference in Seoul. ALL KSS files were transferred to NCRC starting July 19th, 2025.
*Please note that the “76-” numbers you see on the folders refers to the year that the KSS Adoptee LEFT KOREA — NOT the year the Adoptee was born (though these years in some cases may have been the same). So 76 = 1976 — the year that these Adoptees LEFT KOREA for adoption to the US, Netherlands, Denmark, or Switzerland (the only countries to which KSS adopted, between 1964-2012).
Above: An AI generated image of a KSS “death book”. Please note that this image does not look exactly like what we saw, and unfortunately we do not have a photo of the actual KSS death book. The notebook we saw was not a binder but just a standard writing notebook with maybe a black paper cover — like something you would buy from a drugstore for homework. The photos of children were in a column to the right and their death dates were to the left. We are not sure of the exact positioning of the death dates, but the fact that these were death books has been confirmed twice by a translator who was present.
Above: An AI generated image of a KSS digital microfiche file on its computers. Please note that this image does not look exactly like what we saw, and unfortunately we do not have a photo of the actual KSS digital microfiche files we saw. However, this gives a good general idea of what we saw at KSS’ former Post Adoption Services building, in the office where the social workers worked.
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We asked NCRC in person in June 2025 if NCRC would be preserving KSS’ death books, digital microfiche files, computers and emails.
We have been inside KSS’ file room on two separate occasions and in 2019 have been voluntarily shown a “death book” by KSS’ most senior social worker (now retired). This death book was essentially a bound paper notebook whose pages contained small square photos of children, next to which were their handwritten death dates. We think this book was from the 1970s but are not sure — we were not allowed to look closely, and the KSS social worker held the book tightly to her chest. Presumably this was a book of children who died at KSS. When we asked to see more such death books for specific years, the KSS social worker denied that KSS had any — but we know this to be a likely lie. KSS had a habit of keeping EVERYTHING. We have personally witnessed cabinets full of old ledgers in their file room at their former Post Adoption Services building north of Seoul.
We have also seen two examples of KSS’ digital microfiche files, which they could pull up on their computers. The documents contained within these microfiche files were less than what was contained in the KSS file folders for each individual Adoptee. However, the digital microfiche files appeared to contain at least a photo, birth date, and some other information about each child. According to KSS’ most senior social worker (now retired), KSS created microfiche files from their collection of individual adoption files back in the 1980s. We know that KSS could search these digital microfiche files by key terms — and add or subtract notes to these files by typing on their computers.
When we visited NCRC’s new main office in June 2025:
NCRC told us they were not aware of KSS’ death books and digital microfiche files, and that they did not think that NCRC would be preserving KSS’ emails (constituting decades of correspondence between Adoptees and KSS, and birth parents and KSS).
According to a non-Adoptee / advocate for Adoptees we spoke with in Korea on Monday, July 28th via Zoom, KSS’ files are already packed in boxes and being prepared to ship to NCRC. This advocate for Adoptees says that she will discuss our request with various MPs (Members of Parliament) early next week.
We greatly fear that much valuable KSS history will simply be lost to time.