Korea’s Evolving Travel Document System.

Please Note - As Of September 2024, We Have Significantly Updated This Page With Important NEW Information And Reorganized It To Improve Flow.

*Important Related Pages:

What Do The Terms “Passport”, Travel Certificate, and Visa mean for Korean Adoptees? 

NEW! How To Use Your Original Korean Passport or Travel Certificate Number For Birth Family Search

*A Note Regarding Terminology:

Thanks to a non-KSS Adoptee who is a US Immigration expert, we have recently (as of September 2024) become aware that Korean Adoptee Travel Documents which say “PASSPORT” on the COVER are NOT actually REAL Passports, but are instead only ONE WAY EXIT “TRAVEL CERTIFICATES” which only SAY “PASSPORT” on the cover. We know! We’re surprised too!

Basically, ALL Korean Adoptees who traveled from S. Korea to their Western Country of Adoption at the time of their adoption traveled on a ONE WAY EXIT “TRAVEL CERTIFICATE” and NOT a TRUE PASSPORT.

The difference between a Travel Certificate and a TRUE Passport is that a Travel Certificate ONLY permitted you to LEAVE Korea - it did NOT permit you to come BACK. A TRUE Passport would allow you to both leave and come back to Korea.

This will be confusing as throughout this site, we have used the terms “Passport” and “Travel Certificate” sometimes interchangeably, since SOME Korean Adoptees’ travel documents SAY “PASSPORT” on the cover while OTHERS’ SAY “TRAVEL CERTIFICATE” on the cover. However, we have accepted that such documents are in ACTUALITY ONLY “TRAVEL CERTIFICATES”.

A NOTE REGARDING THE USE OF “PASSPORT” vs. PASSPORT ON THIS PAGE:

We have laboriously UPDATED this ENTIRE page to put the word Passport / passport into quotes ““ (as “Passport” or “passport”) to denote our acknowledgement that ALL Korean Adoptees traveled from S. Korea to their Western Country of Adoption on a TRAVEL CERTIFICATE - with SOME Travel Certificates (confusingly) having the text “PASSPORT” on the COVER.

Basically, if you see “Passport” or “passport” with quotes ““ this means “Travel Certificate”. If you see Passport or passport without quotes ““ this means TRUE PASSPORT.

Typically on this page, when we discuss one way exit TRAVEL CERTIFICATES we are associating them with KOREAN ADOPTEES - but when we discuss TRUE PASSPORTS we are associating them with NON-ADOPTEE KOREAN NATIONALS.

*This doesn’t mean that Non-Adoptee Korean Nationals could not ALSO have received Travel Certificates. However, currently we cannot find any examples of Travel Certificates for any Koreans except for KOREAN ADOPTEES.

THIS IS CONFUSING, WE KNOW!!! Where you see “Passport” or “passport” in quotes ““, this means that the documents we are referring to were FUNCTIONALLY TRAVEL CERTIFICATES. Where you see Passport or passport WITHOUT quotes ““ we are referring to the TRUE PASSPORTS assigned to Non-Adoptee Korean Nationals whose ACTUAL PASSPORTS allowed them to RETURN to Korea. TRAVEL CERTIFICATES were ONE WAY EXIT Travel Documents which DID NOT permit Korean Adoptees (or any other holders of Travel Certificates) to RETURN to Korea.

We have begun to use the phrase “Passport” / Travel Certificate / Travel ID Number to encompass the changing styles of Travel Document numbers which the S. Korean Government employed over the years. However, it may take us a long time to completely update the site with this new terminology.

In other words, ALL Korean Adoptees traveled from Korea to their Western Country of Adoption on a “TRAVEL CERTIFICATE”, which may alternately say “PASSPORT” OR “TRAVEL CERTIFICATE” on the COVER*.

*Some Korean Adoptees may have had special circumstances and have been issued a TRUE PASSPORT, but we believe this group would have been a small MINORITY.

Please be mindful of this as you read through this page and other pages on Paperslip.

For more info please see:

What Do The Terms “Passport”, Travel Certificate, and Visa mean for Korean Adoptees?

Note:

*While this website is mostly geared toward Adoptees who were adopted through the Korean Adoption Agency Korea Social Service (KSS), there is also information here which is relevant to ALL Korean Adoptees, regardless of their Korean Adoption Agency. Please read carefully to note what info. is purely relevant to KSS Adoptees and what is generally relevant to ALL Korean Adoptees. This page is relevant to ALL Korean Adoptees.

A Note Regarding Plagiarism:

The research on this page wholly belongs to Paperslip.org and credit belongs wholly to us for our original research. Any instances of plagiarism which we discover will be called out publicly.

We wish to continue to benefit Korean Adoptees with the information which we provide for FREE. However, we do and we shall insist that proper credit is given where proper credit is due.

Please do not spread misinformation by sharing information from this site without linking our page directly. Please ALWAYS share this link directly when discussing our information, so that the information comes from the SOURCE. Thank you!

An Introduction To This Now Slightly Unwieldy Mega Page + How Our Research Into Original Korean Adoptee Travel Documents Relates To Birth Family Search.

Paperslip’s research into original Korean Adoptee Travel Documents - what we now refer to as “Passports” or Travel Certificates - began with our investigation into our own related adoption cases. Please note that the types of Travel Documents we are researching are those documents - “Passports” or Travel Certificates - which Korean Adoptees originally traveled on when they departed Korea to their Western Countries of Adoption at the time of their adoption. We are NOT interested in investigating or researching CURRENT actual Passports which Korean Adoptees may have acquired AFTER the time of their original adoption.

It is vitally important to understand what we explain ABOVE this post, which is that ALL Korean Adoptees, when they FIRST traveled to their Western Countries of Adoption when they were first adopted, ALL traveled on TRAVEL CERTIFICATES - some of which SAY “PASSPORT” on the cover, and some of which have “TRAVEL CERTIFICATE” printed on the cover. These were ALL FUNCTIONALLY AND IN ACTUALITY TRAVEL CERTIFICATES which only allowed Korean Adoptees to LEAVE Korea - and did NOT allow them to RETURN.

For more information please see:

What Do The Terms “Passport”, Travel Certificate, and Visa mean for Korean Adoptees?

We refer to such original Travel Certificates alternately as “Passports” (in quotes ““ so as to distinguish them from REAL PASSPORTS, which would allow its holders to both depart and return to Korea) and as Travel Certificates. You will sometimes see us refer to these documents as “Passports” / Travel Certificates.

What is MOST important to understand from this page is that the original Travel Documents of Korean Adoptees - “Passports” and Travel Certificates - had DIFFERENT TYPES OF NUMBERS that CHANGED OVER TIME.

*Please note that, depending on the context, the Korean Government will still likely think of / refer to your “Passport” / Travel Certificate Number / Travel ID number as a “PASSPORT NUMBER” - even if your original Korean Travel Documents SAYS “Travel Certificate” on the COVER.

We have done ORIGINAL informal research which has revealed the OVERALL PATTERN of how what we call the “Passport” / Travel Certificate / Travel ID Number CHANGED over the decades of S. Korea’s massive adoption program - from the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.

*Please note that we are MISSING DATA (examples of Travel Documents) from several years. However, we still think that you can get an overall idea of the changing styles of these numbers by looking at the list of “Passport” / Travel Certificate / Travel ID Numbers which we have included below this section.

Why are these NUMBERS important? Section 1:

First, it may be possible to use these “Passport” / Travel Certificate / Travel ID Numbers for birth family search. We describe this on the page below:

NEW! How To Use Your Original Korean Passport or Travel Certificate Number For Birth Family Search

*IMPORTANT NOTE: It is important to understand that no matter WHICH COUNTRY IN THE WORLD a Korean Adoptee was adopted to, that their original Korean “Passport” / Travel Certificate / Travel ID Numbers are more or less NUMERICALLY SEQUENTIAL *SOMETIMES WITHIN their specific Number Series and *SOMETIMES OUTSIDE OF their specific Number Series (such as “MB”, “R”, and “TC”)*. We strongly believe this is because the original Korean Travel Documents of Adoptees were processed in BATCHES by the Korean Adoption Agencies through the Korean Government. We believe that the Korean Adoption Agencies likely took turns having batches of original Korean Travel Documents for Adoptees processed through the Korean Government - for example, Holt might have an appointment to process a batch of 10-50 (we are just guessing here) Travel Documents for Adoptees on one day, and KSS might have an appointment to process a batch of 10-30 (we are just guessing here) Travel Documents for Adoptees on ANOTHER day. In this way, the original Korean “Passport” / Travel Certificate / Travel ID Numbers of Adoptees are SEQUENTIAL to each other NO MATTER WHICH COUNTRY AN ADOPTEE WAS SENT TO.

So, for example, between 1965-1974 a Korean Adoptee might have had the following EXAMPLE SEQUENTIAL “MB” Numbers yet have been sent to DIFFERENT countries (*Please Note that the Examples below are NOT REAL):

MB12345 (Child sent for adoption by Holt Adoption Agency to USA)
MB12346 (Child sent for adoption by Holt Adoption Agency to USA)
MB12347 (Child sent for adoption by Holt Adoption Agency to USA)
MB12348 (Child sent for adoption by Holt Adoption Agency to USA)
MB12349 (Child sent for adoption by Holt Adoption Agency to USA)
MB12350 (Child sent for adoption by Holt Adoption Agency to USA)

MB12351 (Child sent for adoption by KSS Adoption Agency to Denmark)
MB12352 (Child sent for adoption by KSS Adoption Agency to Denmark)
MB12353 (Child sent for adoption by KSS Adoption Agency to Denmark)
MB12354 (Child sent for adoption by KSS Adoption Agency to Denmark)
MB12355 (Child sent for adoption by KSS Adoption Agency to Denmark)
MB12356 (Child sent for adoption by KSS Adoption Agency to Denmark)

MB12357 (Child sent for adoption by SWS Adoption Agency to Sweden)
MB12358 (Child sent for adoption by SWS Adoption Agency to Sweden)
MB12359 (Child sent for adoption by SWS Adoption Agency to Sweden)
MB12360 (Child sent for adoption by SWS Adoption Agency to Sweden)
MB12361 (Child sent for adoption by SWS Adoption Agency to Sweden)
MB12362 (Child sent for adoption by SWS Adoption Agency to Sweden)

ETC…

Since we DO NOT have “Passport” / Travel Certificate Number data for ALL years from the 1950s-2000s, we DO NOT KNOW for sure for ALL of the times when the Korean Government changed the STYLE of the “Passport” / Travel Certificate Number as it relates to Korean Adoptees. We also DO NOT KNOW ALL the times when the Korean Government either DID or DID NOT RESET the NUMERICAL portion of a “Passport” / Travel Certificate Number within a specific Number Series (such as “MB” “R” “TC” etc).

We have observed that SOMETIMES when the Korean Government changed the style of “Passport” / Travel Certificate Number (such as from 1974-1975 when the Korean Government changed from an “MB” to an “R” Number Series), the Korean Government KEPT ON GOING UPWARDS SEQUENTIALLY with the NUMERICAL PORTION of the “Passport” / Travel Certificate Number, yet CHANGED the associated LETTER (from “MB” to “R”).

For example, the Korean Government appears to have assigned ALL Korean Adoptees (for whom we have data) sequential “MB” Numbers between ISSUE Years 1965-1974. HOWEVER, beginning in 1975, the Korean Government CHANGED the system and began to give ALL Korean Adoptees (for whom we have data) sequential R Numbers:

1974: The last known “MB” Number we have a REAL record of is MB142XXX (where the X’s are for privacy).

The FIRST “R” Number we have a REAL record of is R144XXX (where the X’s are for privacy).

In this example, the Korean Government changed the LETTER “MB” to “R” but the Numerical portion of the number series KEPT RISING SEQUENTIALLY IN THE NUMERICAL PORTION of the “Passport” / Travel Certificate Numbers from the “MB” to the “R” Number Series. In other words, “MB” changed to “R”, but the numbers kept rising sequentially and were NOT RESET. This however was NOT ALWAYS the case when the Korean Government changed the STYLE of the “Passport” / Travel Certificate Numbers, at least for Adoptees.

This will frankly make more sense if you READ the section below titled:

”The Evolving Styles of the Korean Travel Documents (“Passports” and Travel Certificates) For Korean Adoptees, From The 1950s-2000s.”

The “MB” Numbers which we discuss in depth below - which we have found were given to ALL Korean Adoptees for whom we have “Passport” / Travel Certificate data whose original Korean “Passports” / Travel Certificates were ISSUED between 1965-1974 - are ALL presumed to be NUMERICALLY SEQUENTIAL between Issue Years 1965-1974.

+

Why are these NUMBERS important? Section 2:

Second, in the process of researching these changing “Passport” / Travel Certificate / Travel ID Numbers, we have come across an interesting discovery: that ALL Korean Adoptees whose “Passports” / Travel Certificates were ISSUED between 1965-1974 ALL have sequential “MB” Numbers, such as MB4, MB5, or MB6 digit Numbers (for example: MB1234, MB12345, MB123456). We believe that the “MB” Number system began to be used by the S. Korean Government for TRAVEL CERTIFICATES ONLY starting in 1965. The FIRST example of an “MB” “Passport” / Travel Certificate Number that we know of is from a Korean Adoptee with an MB1234 Number. We know from Korea’s very first actual passport that Korea started its number systems for passports with 0001. Therefore it’s logical to assume that the Korean Government began the “MB” Travel Certifificate number system with MB0001. The LAST “MB” Number we have a record of is from a Korean Adoptee whose MB6 digit number is an MB6 digit number: MB142XXX. (The “X’s” are for privacy). We believe that the “MB” number system was purely SEQUENTIAL from 1965-1974. Therefore, there are at least 142,000+ possible “MB” Travel Certificates that were ISSUED by the S. Korean Government between 1965-1974. We know for a FACT that the S. Korean government was assigning a DIFFERENT Numbering system to Travel Certificates for Korean Adoptees BEFORE 1965 and AFTER 1974. It’s ONLY between 1965-1974 that “MB” Numbers appear on the Travel Documents - “Passports” / Travel Certificates - for Korean Adoptees.

Yet strangely we are NOT able to find ANY OFFICIAL reference to “MB” as a official Passport or Travel Certificate code online AT ALL. It’s as though the “MB” number system did not exist - even though we know that it very much did, from collecting multiple Travel Documents from Korean Adoptees. What is further bizarre to us is that when we had someone contact the S. Korean Government about this, they initially DENIED KNOWLEDGE of the “MB” number system - then later admitted that “MB” numbers were given to both Korean Adoptees AND to unspecified “other workers”. However, the S. Korean government declined to say what kind of “other workers” these were, and to date, we have NEVER been able to find an example of ANY “MB” numbers on ANY OTHER Korean Travel Documents EXCEPT for those for Korean Adoptees.

To be fair, most people DO NOT share their Passports online. However, we are continually struck by the oddity of NOT being able to even find ANY reference to “MB” as a “Passport” / Passport / Travel Certificate number system ANYWHERE online.

The significance of this relates to the question of - how many Korean Adoptees are there? The Korean Adoptee community and Korean Adoption experts feel that the Korean Government has underreported the true number of Korean Adoptees. Estimates of the total number of Korean Adoptees adopted globally from the 1950s-2000s range from 150,000-300,000.

IF “MB” numbers were ONLY given by the S. Korean Government to the Travel Certificates of Korean Adoptees - then the possibility of there having been 142,000+ “MB” Numbers between 1965-1974 would radically alter the widely held belief that there could not possibly have been this many Korean Adoptees adopted during this time period. Two Korean Adoption experts with whom we have consulted agree that there were much fewer officially reported adoptions of Korean Adoptees during this time period.

Still, until we are able to find examples of NON-ADOPTEE Korean Nationals with “MB” Travel Certificate numbers, we will continue to wonder who ELSE besides Korean Adoptees were leaving Korea between 1965-1974 and NOT PLANNING TO COME BACK? For a Travel Certificate by its very definition is a document which ONLY permits one to EXIT the country (Korea), but does NOT permit one to RETURN to the country (Korea). We have dug up several examples of TRUE PASSPORTS of NON-ADOPTEE Korean Nationals in the sections below, none of which have “MB” associated with their (actual) Passport numbers.

We know that air travel out of Korea was EXTREMELY limited for average Koreans until the late 1980s, and that Koreans who wished to travel abroad by air had to receive special permission to do so, living as they were under various dictators from the end of the Korean War in 1953 to around 1989 when Korea began to transition to becoming a Democracy.

Please let us know if you are able to find ANY examples of NON-ADOPTEE Korean Nationals with “MB” “Passports” or Travel Certificates!

Another IMPORTANT discovery which was recently revealed to us in September 2024 is that YOUNGER Adoptees - those adopted perhaps in the mid-late 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s - may have a “PERSONAL No.” / “PERSONAL NUMBER” listed on their original Korean Travel Document - “Passport” or Travel Certificate. This “PERSONAL NUMBER” - examples from 2001 and 2005 are 7 digit numbers - is in actuality the “NATIONAL ID” Number of the Korean Adoptee. This “PERSONAL NUMBER” / “NATIONAL ID” Number may ALSO be useful in birth family search.

Please see:

NEW! How To Use Your Original Korean Passport or Travel Certificate Number For Birth Family Search

IMPORTANT NOTE!

While we have found that ALL Korean Adoptees for whom we have “Passport” / Travel Certificate data from 1965-1974 have “MB” 4, 5, or 6 Digit Numbers (such as MB1234, MB12345, or MB123456), we want to make clear that we do NOT yet know that ONLY Korean Adoptees received MB passport numbers between 1965-1974.

It's possible that OTHER NON-Adoptee Korean Nationals ALSO received MB passport numbers. However, to date, we still CANNOT find ANY examples of Korean Passports for NON-Korean Adoptees who ALSO have “MB” “Passport” / Travel Certificate Numbers. So we still suspect, but CANNOT PROVE, that ONLY Korean Adoptees were being assigned “MB” “Passport” / Travel Certificate Numbers between 1965-1974 by the S. Korean Government.

We currently cannot find enough examples of the passports of OTHER NON-Adoptee Korean Nationals' in this time period to be able to rule them out as possibly ALSO having MB “Passport” / Travel Certificate numbers.

*Update - September 4th, 2024:

We have recently come to learn from a non-KSS Adoptee that even if a Korean Adoptee had an original Korean Travel Document which said “PASSPORT” on the COVER, that these travel documents were NOT in fact TRUE Passports, but were in fact ONLY one way exit “Travel Certificates” which just said “Passport” on the cover. This could potentially account for the reason why we have been unable to find ANY Non-Adoptee Korean Nationals with “MB” “Passport” Numbers - because IF Korean Adoptees were NOT receiving TRUE Passports, and Non-Adoptee Korean Nationals WERE receiving TRUE Passports, then it MAKES SENSE that the Korean Government may have been using DIFFERENT Numbering Systems for TRUE PASSPORTS FOR KOREAN NATIONALS vs. ONE WAY EXIT “TRAVEL CERTIFICATES” (which only SAID “Passport” on the cover) for KOREAN ADOPTEES.

It would make total sense that the S. Korean Government would NOT have assigned the SAME kinds of numbers to TRUE PASSPORTS for Non-Adoptee Korean Nationals vs. ONE WAY EXIT "TRAVEL CERTIFICATES" which only SAID "PASSPORT" on the COVER for Korean Adoptees!!!

So this only further bolsters our UNPROVEN belief that "MB" TRAVEL CERTIFICATE Numbers were at the LEAST ONLY used for ONE WAY EXIT "TRAVEL CERTIFICATES" - and at  the MOST, were ONLY used for Korean Adoptees, because who else besides Korean Adoptees were getting ONE WAY EXIT TRAVEL CERTIFICATES between 1965-1974??? Wouldn't any other Non-Adoptee Korean National who was traveling outside of Korea BE COMING BACK? Therefore most Korean Nationals traveling between 1965-1974 would have TRUE PASSPORTS and NOT JUST ONE WAY “TRAVEL CERTIFICATES” as were being assigned to Korean Adoptees by the S. Korean Government!

Bearing in mind that the significance of this is that the FIRST "MB" "Travel Certificate" number in 1965 for a Korean Adoptee was likely MB 0001 (based on past Korean Passport Examples), and the LAST "MB" "Travel Certificate" number we know of from the END of December 1974 is ABOVE MB 142000. 142000 - 0001 =  *141,999+ POSSIBLE MB TRAVEL CERTIFICATE NUMBERS BETWEEN 1965-1974!!!

WHO ELSE besides Korean Adoptees between 1965-1974 would be receiving ONE WAY EXIT “TRAVEL CERTIFICATES” BESIDES KOREAN ADOPTEES???

*Please Note: We have to date NOT been able to find examples of Korean Travel Documents for Korean soldiers sent to Vietnam, nor, surprisingly, for Korean emigrants to the US in this time period (1965-1974). So IF these groups of Korean Nationals were ALSO receiving “Travel Certificates” with “MB” Numbers, then this COULD possibly account for why the *141,999+ possible MB TRAVEL CERTIFICATE Numbers between 1965-1974 is such a high number. Most Korean Adoption experts agree that there could NOT have been *141,999+ Korean Adoptees between 1965-1974. However, we also know that Korean Adoption statistics were likely underreported by the S. Korean Government throughout its adoption history. We will likely never know precisely how many Korean Adoptees were adopted around the world throughout S. Korea’s long adoption history.

For clarification regarding “Passports” and “Travel Certificates” for Korean Adoptees, please see:
What Do The Terms “Passport”, Travel Certificate, and Visa mean for Korean Adoptees?

Still, since we STILL do not know what other Non-Adoptee Koreans may have had “MB” “Travel Certificate” Numbers between 1965-1974, we must say: While it does seem clear that ALL Korean Adoptees who have Korean Travel Documents ISSUED between 1965-1974 have MB numbers, this does NOT mean that OTHER Non-Adoptee Korean Nationals may not ALSO have had MB numbers. We need more data to know for sure.

The Korean Government recently admitted (read more below) that “MB” Numbers were used for the Travel Documents of Korean Adoptees AND for “other Korean workers”. However, the Korean Government did NOT specify what types of Korean workers these were, and they also said that they “did not know” what “MB” stood for. (Spoiler Alert: we believe, but cannot prove that “MB” stood for “Military Base”). Call us crazy, but we have a hard time that the Korean Government “does not know” what “MB” stands for. We believe it was a SECRET travel document classification for at least Korean Adoptees under the notorious Park Chung Hee administration. There is ZERO reference to an “MB” passport or travel certificate classification that we can find online, and we have scoured the internet. What other types of “Korean workers” the “MB” Number was assigned by the S. Korean Government remains unclear.

Please do NOT share with others that ONLY Korean Adoptees have MB passport numbers, because we do NOT yet know this.

UPDATE - Feb. 24th, 2024:
The S. Korean Government NOW acknowledges that "MB" “Passport” numbers were given to Korean Adoptees AND to other Koreans emigrating overseas.

However, the S. Korean government still says it “does not know” what "MB" means, though it guesses that "M" may stand for "Multiple". The Korean government did NOT provide many more details.

ALL Korean Adoptees For Whom We Have “Passport” Data With Korean “Passports” / Travel Certificates Issued Between 1965-1974 Have “MB” “Passport” Numbers.

Breaking News - Feb. 13th, 2024:
The S. Korean Government Denies Knowledge of the “MB” Passport Numbering System.
ALL Korean Adoptees For Whom We Have “Passport” Data With Korean “Passports” / Travel Certificates Issued Between 1965-1974 Have “MB” “Passport” Numbers.

Does the Korean government REALLY "not know" about the "MB" “passport” numbers used for 10 YEARS for Korean Adoptees, between 1965-1974??

We asked someone in Korea to contact the S. Korean government to ask about the “MB” “passport” number system to which we can find absolutely NO reference online. According to our original research, ALL Korean Adoptees for whom we have “passport” data with Korean “Passports” / Travel Certificates issued between 1965-1974 have “MB” “passport” numbers, such as MB 1234, MB 12345, or MB 123456. (Please note that 1961 Korean Passport Law stipulated that a Travel Certificate was functionally the SAME as a passport). This person just received an answer from the Passport Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

“안녕하세요. 외교부 여권과입니다.

귀하께서 문의하신 사항에 대해 다음과 같이 답변드립니다.

우선 회신이 늦어짐에 대해 송구스럽게 생각합니다.

귀하께서 문의하신 60-70년대 여권 번호체계상의 MB 영문 약자의 의미 관련, 우리 여권은 1969년 여권법 제정으로 정식 명칭과 번호를 부여하기 시작하였으며,

1990년대 전자여권이 발급되면서 전산화 시스템이 구축되기 이전에 개별 여권에 부여한 여권번호 체계에 대하여 현재 상세한 설명 자료가 부재한 상황입니다.

다만, M은 복수여권(Mutiple)의 약자, B는 A, B, C....의 영문 알파벳 숫자 배열일 것으로 추정됩니다.

말씀드린 답변 도움되셨길 바라며, 여권 관련 상세한 문의는 외교부 영사콜센터(02-3210-0404)로 연락하여 주시기 바랍니다.

감사합니다.

외교부 여권과 드림”

ChatGPT Translation:

”Hello, this is the Passport Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

We would like to apologize for the delay in our response and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Regarding your inquiry about the meaning of the MB abbreviation in the passport numbering system from the 1960s to 1970s, our passports began to be officially named and numbered with the enactment of the Passport Act in 1969. However, detailed documentation on the passport numbering system assigned to individual passports before the establishment of the computerized system during the issuance of electronic passports in the 1990s is currently unavailable.

Nevertheless, it is speculated that "M" stands for "Multiple" indicating the issuance of multiple passports, while "B" likely represents alphabetical characters such as A, B, C, etc.

We hope this information is helpful. For further inquiries regarding passports, please contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Consular Call Center at 02-3210-0404.

Thank you.

Passport Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs”

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Isn’t it kind of WEIRD that the S. Korean government supposedly “DOES NOT KNOW” about 10 YEARS worth of Korean Adoptees’ “passports” between 1965-1974, during the notorious dictatorial rule of Park Chung Hee, who basically operated a surveillance state?

Note - even WE can EASILY find multiple references to Korean passport codes and Korean Passport Law from 1961 - not 1969 as the letter from the S. Korean Passport Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs above mentions - when S. Korea’s FIRST Passport law was enacted. Ummm…shouldn’t the S. Korean government know about this??

https://m.blog.naver.com/aviationmuseum/222160715910

In case the blog post above goes “missing”, don’t worry, we have screenshots…

“1961 Passport Law:

Passport Act

(Law No. 102, enacted on January 20, 121)

Ministry of Foreign Affairs: 02-2100-7829

Article 1 (Purpose): The purpose of this Act is to regulate matters related to the issuance, possession, and other necessary matters concerning passports.

Article 2 (Possession of Passport): Citizens intending to travel abroad must possess a passport issued under the provisions of this Act.

Article 3 (Types of Passports): Passports are divided into ordinary passports, official passports, and diplomatic passports.

(Paperslip Note: NOTE THAT THERE IS NO CATEGORY FOR “MB” Passports, and we have not to date been able to find ANY “MB” passports for non-Adoptee Korean nationals at ANY point in time).

Article 4 (Issuing Authority): Passports are issued by the Minister of Foreign Affairs domestically and by diplomatic or consular officers abroad. However, consular officers cannot issue diplomatic passports.

Article 5 (Application for Passport Issuance): Individuals wishing to obtain a passport must apply for issuance to the passport issuing authority according to the criteria set forth by the government.

Article 6 (Change of Information): Individuals who have been issued a passport may apply to the passport issuing authority for changes to the information contained in their passport when necessary.

Article 7 (Reissuance): Individuals who have been issued a passport may reapply for passport issuance if their passport is lost or significantly damaged.

Article 8 (Restrictions on Issuance or Renewal of Passports): ① The passport issuing authority may refuse to issue or renew a passport or change passport information for individuals falling under the following categories: 1. Individuals denied entry into the destination country by its laws. 2. Individuals prosecuted for criminal offenses. 3. Individuals convicted of crimes listed in Article 13, paragraphs 1 or 2, who have not completed their sentence or have not had their sentence suspended. 4. Individuals sentenced to imprisonment or heavier penalties who have not completed their sentence or have not had their sentence suspended, excluding those listed above. 5. Individuals deemed likely to significantly harm the interests of the Republic of Korea or public safety. When the Minister of Foreign Affairs intends to implement measures under Item 5 above, prior consultation with the Minister of Justice is required.

[Translation provided by ChatGPT; not an official document translation]

~

여권법

조시형 102 1.20.121)

외교뛰어과), 02-2100-7829

제1조(목적) 본법은 여권의 발급, 호학 기타 여권에 관하여 필요한 사항을 규정함을 목적으로 한다.

제2조(여권의 소지) 외국에 여행하고자 하는 국민은 본법의 규정에 의하여 발급된 여권을 소지하여야 한다.

제3조(여권의 종류) 여권은 일반여권, 관용여권 및 외교관여권으로 나눈다.

제4조 (발급권자) 여권은 국내에 있어서는 외무부장관, 국외대 있어서는 영사(以下라 한다)가 발급한다. 단, 영서는 외교관여권을 발급할 수 없다.

제5조(여권발급의 산성) 여권의 발급을 받고자 하는 자는 각성의 정하는 바에 의하여 여권발급권자에게 발급을 신설하여야 한다.

제6조 (기재사항변경) 여군의 발급을 받은 자는 그가 발급받은 여권의 기재사항을 변경할 필요가 생겼을 때에는 여권발급권자에게 그 기재사항의 변경을 신청할 수 있다.

제7조(재발급) 여권의 발급을 받은 자는 그가 발급받은 여권을 분실 또는 소실 하였거나 현저하게 확손하였을 때에는 여권발급권자에게 여권발급을 재신청할 수 있다.

제8조(여권의 발급등의 재한) ①여권발급권자는 다음 각호의 1에 해당하는 자에 대하여는 여권의 발급 또는 기재사항의 변경이나 재발급을 거부할 수 있다. 1. 여행목적국의 법규에 의하여 입국이 거부되어 있는 자

2. 행사사건으로 기소되어 있는 자 3. 제13조제1항 또는 제2항 각호의 1에 해당하는 죄를 범하여 형의 선고를 받고 그 집행이 종료되지 아니하거나 그 김향을 받지 아니하기로 확정되지 아니한 자

4. 전호이외에 금고이상의 형의 선고를 받고 그 집행이 종료되지 아니하거나 그 집행을 받지 아니하기로 확정되지 아니한 자

5. 대한민국의 이익이나 공공의 안전을 현저히 해할 상당한 이유가 있다고 인정되는 자

대외무부장관이 전항제5호의 규정에 의한 안정을 하려고 할 때에는 미리 법무부장관과 협의하여야 한다.

▲ Passport Act (enacted on December 31, 1961, implemented on January 20, 1962, Act No. 940) / National Legislation Information Center”

I don’t know about you, but when it comes to “MB” “passport” numbers, I smell something fishy…

*Please NOTE - we do NOT yet know if “MB” numbers were assigned to OTHER, UNKNOWN or SECRET groups of non-Adoptee Korean Nationals apart from Korean Adoptees. However, to date, we have NOT been able to find ANY “MB” “passport” numbers for anyone except for Korean Adoptees whose Korean “passports” were Issued between 1965-1974. However, ALL Korean Adoptees (for whom we have “passport” data) whose Korean “passports” were Issued between 1965-1974 have “MB” “passport” numbers. Weird that the S. Korean government, ummm, “doesn’t know” about this…

We should note that what is equally ODD is that we cannot find ANY reference to these “MB” numbers in the U.S. For a country which did not even ALLOW most Asians into the country until 1965 (the exact SAME year when the “MB” “passport” number began to be used for presumably ALL Korean Adoptees until the end of 1974) when the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act was enacted, what do you think the odds are that the U.S. government also “just DOES NOT KNOW” about these “MB” “passport” numbers for Korean Adoptees? Since I wasn’t born yesterday, my guess is the odds of both the S. Korean and U.S. governments “NOT KNOWING” about these “MB” “passports” is exactly NIL.

*We should note that according to two people, institutional memory in Korea is short. So it’s possible that the letter (above) from the representative of the S. Korean Passport Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was just written by someone young who doesn’t really know anything about the “MB” system. But this doesn’t explain why there is ZERO reference to the “MB” “passport” system ANYWHERE online that we can find in either Korean or English. (There is also no reference to any “MB” Travel Certificate designation that we can find online).

Bear in mind, Korean Adoption was potentially a multi-billion dollar business in Korea, and the Korean government had incentive to keep the TRUE number of children sent overseas for Adoption a secret. IF - and this is still a big IF - “MB” “passport” numbers were ONLY applied to Korean Adoptees, then by the end of 1974, the Korean government had issued at least 143,000 “MB” “passports” (*noting that these were ALL functionally Travel Certificates) for Korean Adoptees. Unfortunately, we may never be able to verify this, as finding the passports of non-Adoptee Korean nationals in order to rule them out as NOT having “MB” “passport” numbers is not particularly easy. However, to date we have ruled out nearly every (*known) possible group of non-Adoptee Korean nationals (see below for examples) EXCEPT for Korean soldiers and other personnel sent to Vietnam during the Vietnam War. We’re also unable to find passports for Koreans who emigrated to the US. We’re simply unable (so far) to find Korean passports for these groups of non-Adoptee Korean nationals. Ironically, Korean soldiers and other personnel sent to Vietnam traveled in almost SAME time period as the Korean government was using “MB” numbers for likely ALL Korean Adoptees: 1965-1974.

However, the number of Korean soldiers sent to Vietnam - around 350,000 - is around twice the number of possible “MB” “passport” numbers between 1965-1974, since the last known “MB” number from the end of December 1974 is around MB 143000 (presumably 143,000). So it’s always possible Korean soldiers were receiving some other style of Korean passport number, with or without associated letters such as “MB” - we simply do not currently know. We know from our original research that the Korean government likely started the “MB” passport system from MB 0001 in 1965 and likely concluded (at least for Korean Adoptees) the “MB” “passport” system at around MB 143000 at the end of 1974, and switched to an “R” “passport” number system (at least for Korean Adoptees) starting in January 1975.

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Please note that according to 1961 Korean Passport Law, a Travel Certificate was functionally the SAME as a Passport:

https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b4eb28.html

"Article 10 (Travel Document Serving as Passport)

(1) The Minister of Foreign Affairs may issue a travel document serving as a passport (hereinafter referred to as "a travel certificate") to a person for whom a need for it is particularly recognized."

Non-Adoptee Korean “Passports” From 1965-1974 Do NOT Appear To Have The “MB” “Passport” Numbers Which ALL Korean Adoptees From 1965-1974 Have.

We have been scouring the internet trying to find ANY examples of “MB” “passport” numbers for non-Adoptee Korean nationals - and as of February 9th, 2024, we have not been able to find ANY such examples.

We know based on our original research that ALL Korean Adoptees for whom we currently have Korean “passport” data (we include Travel Certificates in the colloquial term “passport”) have MB “passport” numbers from 1965-1974.

Yet as you can see from this Korean blogger’s post, there are NO MB numbers for these example Korean passports for this non-Adoptee Korean national. Significantly the first passport on the blog of a non-Adoptee Korean national whose Korean passport was issued in 1969. We know from our original research that the Korean government gave “MB” passport numbers to presumably ALL Korean Adoptees from 1965-1974, so the fact that this non-Adoptee Korean national does NOT have an “MB” passport number in 1969 or 1970 is evidence that the Korean government was NOT assigning “MB” passports to non-Adoptee Korean nationals during the same time frame:

Passport Number: 194967

Date Issued: August 25th, 1969

Source:
https://yillbyunglee.blogspot.com/2020/09/1970-8-251971-1-20.html

Were “T” 12345 “Passport” Numbers Used Exclusively For Korean Adoptees In 1960, 1961 + Possibly In Surrounding Years?

Or Were “T” 12345 “Passport” Numbers Also Used For Non-Adoptee Korean Nationals?

*Update - February 4, 2024: We want to make a note that we have found a smattering of “T” 12345 numbers for Korean Adoptee “passports” from 1960, 1961, 1963, and 1964. We have noticed “T” number amongst the known Korean “passport” codes, but we do not know if the Korean government was assigning BOTH Korean Adoptees AND non-Adoptee Korean nationals “T” 12345 “passport” numbers in 1960, 1961, and possibly in surrounding years.

Unlike the “MB” “passport” code, for which we can find no official reference online, we can easily find the “T” “passport” code with a quick search:

According to this blog post, “T” simply stands for “Travel Certificate”:

https://m.blog.naver.com/fingertrips/222417843474

”T (Travel certificate): Traveler's certificate

S (Single): Single passport. Because it is a one-time use, your passport will lose its validity when you return to Korea after leaving the country.

M (Multiple): Multiple passports

R (Resident): Residence passport

G (Government): Official passport for civil servants

D (Deplomatic): Diplomatic Passport”

*It should be noted that simply because there is reference to a known “T” passport code online, does not necessarily mean that the Korean government was using the “T” passport number for non-Adoptee Korean nationals in the SAME years during which we have discovered Korean Adoptee “passports” with “T” “passport” numbers. It’s still possible that the Korean government may have been separately identifying Korean Adoptee “passports” with a “T” code in 1960, 1961, 1963, and 1964 (and possibly 1962 - we just lack data for that year) - we simply do not yet have enough “passport” data to know.

We have not admittedly not looked very hard into this, having only discovered such “T” “passport” numbers recently, and we will update this page when we know more about this.

We currently do NOT have “passport” data for Korean Adoptees with Korean “passport” with Issue dates in 1958, 1959, 1962, or 1963. So we do not know exactly what kinds of “passport” numbers the Korean government was giving to Korean Adoptees during these specific years. If you are a Korean Adoptee whose Korean “passports” have an Issue Date of 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, or 1963, 1964, or 1965, we would love to hear from you! Please contact us at paperslipadoptee@gmail.com - thank you!

Below are examples of the Travel Certificate, the so-called “Deluxe Travel Certificate”, and “Passport”. Please Note That These Are ALL Functionally TRAVEL CERTIFICATES (Even If The Document Says “Passport” On The Cover).

*Please note that this info. is not specific to Korea Social Service (KSS) Adoptees but applies to all Korean Adoptees.

These are all various types of documents we colloquially call the “Korean Travel Document” which the Korean government used to send children from Korea to the US and Europe. We colloquially refer to this as the Korean “Passport” or Travel Certificate. We strongly recommend that you NEVER discard this document.

Please note that ALL Korean Adoptees traveled from S. Korea to their Western Countries of Adoption on TRAVEL CERTIFICATES. Some Travel Certificates SAY “PASSPORT” on the COVER, but these are FUNCTIONALLY ONE WAY EXIT TRAVEL CERTIFICATES.

For more information please see:

What Do The Terms “Passport”, Travel Certificate, and Visa mean for Korean Adoptees?

If you do not have this document, and are a US Adoptee, you can gain access to this document by filing a FOIA request. Please note that sometimes the entire Korean travel document is not reproduced (photocopied) amongst your FOIA documents - however, you may still be able to find reference to the Korean travel document among your FOIA documents by looking for an MB 4, 5 or 6 digit / R 6, 7, or 8 digit / TC 6, 7, or 8 digit number (see examples of such numbers below).

*Please Note: This information is based on limited, informal research based on asking Korean Adoptees what their punched in or printed Korean Travel Certificate / “Deluxe Travel Certificate” / “Passport” numbers were and what the date of issue was of their travel documents. The informal research was by no means exhaustive. If you have more information to add or correct, please let us know!

Please note that we now refer to the primary numbers on these original Korean Travel Documents as the:

“Passport” / Travel Certificate / Travel ID Numbers.

Korean Travel Certificate / “Passport” Numbers were close to MB 150000 by the end of December 1974.

Were there close to 150,000 (mainly) Korean Adoptees Sent From Korea For International Adoption By The End of December 1974?

Please note that all of this is informal and not official “research” and that we don’t know for sure what “MB” means or the exact significance of the sequential 4 / 5 digit number following “MB” (such as 1234 or 12345).

What is interesting is that the MB6 digit number from late December 1974 in the example above is close to being MB 150000 or in other words close to 150,000. For privacy reasons for the Korean Adoptee to whom this Travel Certificate belongs, we don't want to reveal the precise number. Historically we think it’s interesting because outside of Korean Adoptees, we can’t find any reference to “MB” Travel Certificate / “Passport” numbers. IF MB numbers were mainly assigned to Korean Adoptees between the 1960s (we don’t know exactly when the “MB” series of number began, but it was likely in the early 1960s) through the end of December 1974, this gives potentially unique insight into how many Adoptees were sent from Korea for international adoption during that time period.

At the very least, the Korean Travel Certificate issued / created at the end of December 1974 (in the graphic above) with the close to MB 150000 Travel Certificate / “Passport” number gives insight into roughly how many Korean Travel Certificates / “Passports” - in the MB number series at least - were generated by the end of 1974.

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Note: We don't think many if any Koreans (apart from Korean Adoptees) would have been traveling by air prior to the 1950s.

Consider that travel was not open to non-Adoptee Koreans prior to the late 1980s: http://ptcian.com/xe/seoul_seniorbbs/25020?ckattempt=1

“In Korea, overseas travel liberalization was implemented on January 1, 1989, just after the 1988 Seoul Olympics…Prior to the liberalization of overseas travel, overseas travel was only possible for specific purposes such as study abroad, employment, or participation in international conferences. Following the revision of the Enforcement Decree of the Passport Act in 1981, the issuance of multiple passports was introduced. In order to get a passport, they had to go through anti-communist and anti-espionage training hosted by the Anti-Communist Federation.”

“Freedom of travel overseas came in the late 1980s. Prior to that, only those who obtained permission from the government could go abroad. People couldn’t travel freely internationally because it was illegal.”
 
There were soldiers sent to Vietnam from Korea in the 1970s, and also Korean workers sent to Europe and elsewhere. However, we think but do not know for sure that it is possible that the bulk of the MB Travel Certificate / “Passport” numbers assigned by the end of December 1974 were likely assigned to Korean Adoptees.

It should be noted however that we don't know if the first MB5 digit Travel Certificate / “Passport” number started from MB 0, MB 00, MB 000, or MB 0000 - so we don't know the baseline of the MB “passport” number.

It should be noted we don’t know the exact year the MB numbers began (though it was likely the early 1960s) nor if they started from a baseline of MB 0, MB 00, MB 000, or MB 0000, or if they continued sequentially from the no letter designation 4 and 5 digit numbers of the 1950s (for example 1234 / 12345), or started over from a new baseline of MB 0, MB 00, MB 000, or MB 0000. We also do not know for sure what “MB” means or the exact significance of the sequential 4 / 5 digit number following “MB” (1234 / 12345). But the December 1974 Travel Certificate that is redacted in the post above has a number that is close to MB 150000. So we cannot say for certain, but given that it was illegal for most Koreans to travel prior to 1989, we think there’s a possibility that MB numbers were primarily for Korean Adoptees, which could possibly (not definitely) mean that by the end of December 1974, there were nearly 150,000 Korean Adoptees who had been processed (not necessarily sent) for adoption.

Basically, this all boils down to: were the majority of the presumably close to 150,000 travelers given MB6 digit numbers by the end of December 1974 Korean Adoptees who were being *processed to be sent abroad for adoption? We simply don’t know.

*In Korean Adoption in general, not all children who were processed for adoption were sent overseas for adoption for a variety of reasons, including the child passing away, the child becoming too sick to travel, or the child being picked up by birth parents prior to her or his intended adoption to the West.

Information on Korean “Passports” / Passports.

Information on Korean Passports:

https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%97%AC%EA%B6%8C?fbclid=IwAR1fTZsi1EHyte9XDx1lj74JuEKB1Mzgv81Zkx8r0aMOr6_fRSiwp90gs7o

In the Wikipedia entry below, noticeably what is missing is the “MB” Travel Certificate / “Passport” number meaning.

R = Resident, TC = Travel Certificate, and M = Multiple, but there is NO “MB” on this list.

”Passport number meaning

☆Passport number is a combination of P (Pass photo), MSRD T, and a number. ☆The hidden meaning of the alphabet in the passport number.

• M: Abbreviation for Multiple, which means multiple passports that can be used multiple times within the validity period. If you have this passport, you can enter and leave the country multiple times regardless of the number of passport trips, and it is mainly used by people who frequently travel abroad. The issuance fee is 38,000 won (48 pages), 35,000 won (24 pages) .

• S: An abbreviation of Single, it is a single passport that can be used only once, and can only be used once within a year when traveling abroad. It is mainly used by male college students and graduate school male students who could not serve in the military. This will be invalidated once you have entered and exited Korea only once. The issuance fee is 15,000 won.

• R: Abbreviation for Resident, which mainly means residence passport. This passport is used when studying abroad at a foreign university for a long time or working in a foreign research institute.

• G: Abbreviation for Government, which means an official passport. This passport is used when going to a foreign country wearing official uniforms (military uniforms, police uniforms) when participating in foreign events such as military and police.

• D: Abbreviation for Diplomatic, which means diplomatic passport.

• TC: Abbreviation for Travel Certificate and means travel certificate.

• Passport in Roman letters. It is full of numbers, but there are certain rules.

Most of the types of passports we use are made of a combination of the letter P (Pass port) and the letters mentioned above.

PM: Revenge. PS: singular. PR: Residence. PO: Tolerance. PD: Diplomat. TC: travel document

There are no other confidential information necessary for surname, first name, nationality, date of birth, gender, issuance date, expiration date, issuing authority, and Korean description. However, in the case of a travel document, the destination is additionally printed, so it is not possible to travel to a country other than the country where the destination is listed.

◆There is something called the machine-readable domain. This word is literally the part that the machine reads when you go through immigration, and it is full of various Roman letters, numbers, etc., but it consists of a certain number of rules.

• Note: Sometimes, 'passport photo verification' covers only the passport number, date of birth, and resident registration number, and takes a photo and uploads it to the web. If the machine-readable area is exposed, most personal information such as passport number and date of birth may be disclosed.”

Korea's Evolving Travel Document System.

Update September 2024: This was where this page originated. We have learned a great deal about Travel Documents (which were ALL functionally TRAVEL CERTIFICATES, even if they SAY “PASSPORT” on the COVER) since we first wrote this post.

For a better / more up to date explanation of the TERMINOLOGY related to Korean Adoptee Travel Documents, please see:

What Do The Terms “Passport”, Travel Certificate, and Visa mean for Korean Adoptees?

The Korean government appears to have utilized a variety of different travel documents whose numbering system/s changed over time.

*Please Note: This information is based on limited, informal research based on asking Korean Adoptees what their punched in or printed Korean Travel Certificate / “Deluxe Travel Certificate” / “Passport” numbers were and what the date of issue was of their travel documents. The informal research was by no means exhaustive.

Specifically we are referring to the following travel documents used to send Korean children from Korea to the West (US and Europe). Please note that we refer to these documents colloquially as the “Korean Travel Document”, which was a one way travel document out of Korea. Please note that the look of these documents likely changed over time, as well as their numbering systems. Also please note that all of these various types of documents were valid legally at the time of departure from Korea, and more or less served the same purpose (to allow the child to leave Korea for the West), but have no current validity for travel purposes. (However, you should of course never throw away these documents).

We do not know why some Adoptees were given a Travel Certificate vs. a “Deluxe Travel Certificate” vs. a “Passport”. The Travel Certificate appears to have been the most inexpensive of the options to produce. Note: We now know that the style of the TRAVEL CERTIFICATE for Korean Adoptees changed over time.

The known styles of “Korean Travel Documents” used were:

• Travel Certificate

  • A light yellow (used possibly in the 1950s, we are not sure and definitely used in the 1960s) or a light green, single page document folded into fourths (1970s). This was the most inexpensive of the Korean travel document styles.

  • Based on informal polling of KSS Adoptees, it appears that very few KSS Adoptees to the Netherlands have Travel Certificates. The majority of Dutch KSS Adoptees (though not all) appear to have a Passport.

  • Compared to the Netherlands, more US KSS Adoptees appear to have Travel Certificates (from the 1970s). However, not all US KSS Adoptees from the 1970s have Travel Certificates - some have other styles of the Korean travel document (such as a “Deluxe Travel Certificate” or Passport).
    

• “Passport” - For Korean Adoptees, this was FUNCTIONALLY the SAME as a TRAVEL CERTIFICATE. ALL original Travel Documents for Korean Adoptees were functionally TRAVEL CERTIFICATES, even if they SAY “PASSPORT” on the COVER).

  • This is a standard looking “passport” in booklet form, with “Passport” on the cover. However, it is FUNCTIONALLY a Travel Certificate.
    

• “Deluxe Travel Certificate”

  • This is frankly a word we made up to describe those Travel Certificates which look like a “Passport”, in that they are a booklet with a cover. However the cover says “Travel Certificate” instead of “Passport”. We use the term “Deluxe Travel Certificate” to contrast with the light green, single page document folded into fourths from the 1970s which some KSS Adoptees have.

Travel Certificate, “Passport”, and “Deluxe Travel Certificate” Numbers:

A number most Adoptees do not notice on their Korean Travel Certificate / “Deluxe Travel Certificate” /  “Passport” is a punched in number (little round holes). When the number is punched in, you have to hold the document up to the light in order to read the number, which appears only very lightly on the page. This number system appears to have evolved over time, and can be grouped into these (so far) known groups:

*NOTE: For a more updated list of CURRENTLY KNOWN Korean Adoptee Travel Document Numbers, please see the section titled:

Known Korean Passport / Travel Certificate Numbers for Korean Adoptees By Year of ISSUE, 1950s-2000s
NEW! How To Use Your Original Korean Passport or Travel Certificate Number For Birth Family Search

OLDER LIST:

• MB 5 or 6 digit number

  • Example: MB 12345 or MB 123456

• R 6 or 7 (possibly 8) digit number

  • Example: R 123456 or R 1234567 or R 12345678

• TC 7 or 8 digit number

  • Example: TC 1234567 or TC 12345678

  • *Please Note that the TC numbers may be printed onto the Travel Certificate / “Deluxe Travel Certificate” / “Passport” instead of punched in.
    

• MB, R, and TC:

  • We are speculating here, but if MB = Military Base, R = Resident, and TC = Travel Certificate (it is known that R = Resident and that TC = Travel Certificate, but it is not known if MB = Military Base), then this evolving number system for the Korean Travel Certificate / “Deluxe Travel Certificate” / “Passport” may echo the evolution of Korean adoption itself: from the post-war mixed race (Hapa) adoptees who may have departed Korea from a US (MB) military base in the 1950s, to the full blooded Korean (R) Resident adoptees of the 1960s and 70s, to the (TC) Travel Certificate adoptees who departed Korea in the 1980s and 1990s, when more than just orphans were traveling from Korea by air. Again, please note that this is speculation and not proven fact. We don’t know exactly why the Korean government changed this numbering system over time - we just know that they did.

  • Abbreviations:

    • MB: We do not know for sure what “MB” stands for but our best guess is “Military Base”. The earliest Korean International Adoptees may have departed Korea by plane from military bases rather than from commercial airports.

    • R: Resident

    • TC: Travel Certificate

The evolution of the punched in / printed number system on the Travel Certificate / “Deluxe Travel Certificate” / “Passport”:

• From at least March 1968 (the earliest example we know of) - December 1974:

  • The majority of Korean Adoptees have MB4 (for example: MB 1234) or MB5 (for example: MB 12345) or MB6 (for example: MB123456) digit numbers.

  • There are NO R6 or 7 digit numbers (for example: R 123456 or R 1234567) in this time period nor TC 7 or 8 digit numbers (for example TC 1234567 or TC 12345678) that we know of so far.
    

• Starting in January 1975, Korea changed from an MB5 digit to an R6 digit Travel Certificate / “Deluxe Travel Certificate” / “Passport” Number format.
  
  

• From January 1975 - at least June 1981:

  • The majority of Korean Adoptees have R6 digit numbers (for example: R 123456). Some Korean Adoptees may have R 7 or possibly 8 digit numbers in this time period (for example R 1234567 or R 12345678).
    

• We do not know the exact date which Korea changed from an R 6 or 7 (possibly 8) digit to a TC 7 or 8 digit number system, but it was most likely in 1982 or 1983.
  
  
  UPDATE - January 23rd, 2024:

• We have recently found some perhaps “anomalous” Korean passports for adoptees from 1981 and 1982 which have NO LETTER BEFORE THE NUMBER, such as 001234. So far the numbers are all 6 digit “passport” numbers. We do not know why the Korean government issued some Korean “passports” in 1981 and 1982 with no letter before the number. We do know that by 1983, Korea had changed to a TC Numbering system for Korean “passports” for at least adoptees, if not for the Korean population at large. (Note that we have not investigated Korean “passports” for non-adoptees).

  
  

• From at least 1983 - at least 1996:

  • The majority of Korean Adoptees have TC 7 digit (such as TC 1234567) or TC 8 digit numbers (such as TC 12345678). 
    
    

• We are not sure what the current numbering system is.

What We Assume About These Numbers.

What’s interesting is that if you compare different Korean Adoptee’s MB, R, or TC Numbers, it’s clear that they were sequential according to date of ISSUE. That seems logical, but what is interesting is that these numbers are sequential no matter the Western country of arrival.

We know from KSS itself that KSS processed the Korean travel documents in batches. This appears to be true, based on comparisons of known KSS Adoptees’ Travel Certificate numbers from the 1970s, which are sequential to each other - these KSS Adoptees arrived together to the US on the same flight from Korea.

If you want to verify our informal research, simply ask a KSS Adoptee friend (or any Korean Adoptee friend) to share her or his Korean Travel Document number with you privately - we recommend not posting these numbers publicly online, even though they are not active numbers - and compare the numerical portion of MB, R, or TC number to the issue date of both Korean travel documents. Let us know if you find out anything interesting!

Please Note: We have created NEW separate pages for Korea’s Passport Laws:

1964 Korean Passport Law - Decree No. 39, September 10, 1964

1975 Korean Passport Law - Enforcement Date: January 1, 1975

Thank You:

Korean Adoptee Community for generously sharing your Korean passport information, without which this research would not be possible.

Chang Seon Kim for providing many links and help in support of this research, independently of the organization for which you work. We also appreciate your contacting the Passport Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Anonymous Source for helping with information behind the scenes. We appreciate your support and encouragement.