URGENT: The Movement of Korean Adoption Files From Korean Adoption Agencies To NCRC (The National Center for the Rights of the Child) Starting July 2025.
KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptees with ANY interest in a birth family search should request a birth family search and their “KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary” NOW - before the files are moved from KSS to NCRC in July 2025. We strongly recommend that KSS Adoptees file their official requests with KSS BY EARLY 2025 - since KSS currently has a 1-4 MONTH long wait time! This wait time will only get LONGER closer to July 2025!!!
For KSS Adoptees ONLY:
Please see the “Illustrated Step By Step Guide” about halfway down this page for complete instructions on how to officially request a birth family search AND your “KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary” (which was NOT obtainable prior to mid 2021):
https://www.paperslip.org/step-by-step-kss-birth-family-search
Update - August 19th, 2024
Recently the Head of NCRC admitted that NCRC had neither the funds, staff, nor budget to handle the massive transfer of adoption files from ALL of the Korean Adoption Agencies (including KSS) to NCRC starting in July 2025. He said that it could take up to 10 YEARS for the file transfer to be sorted out.
For this reason we cannot more strongly suggest that KSS Adoptees with ANY interest in birth family search request BOTH a birth family search AND their “KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary” from KSS BY EARLY 2025!!! Please see the “Illustrated Step By Step Guide” section on the linked page above for complete instructions about how to do so.
June 24th, 2024
We had the unexpected opportunity to meet with NCRC (National Center for the Rights of the Child) representatives at the Chicago KAAN conference (July 21st - 23rd, 2024).
Below are the concerns we discussed with them, specifically in relationship to KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptees. Please note that ALL Korean Adoption Agencies are required to transfer their adoption files to the Korean government beginning in July 2025. This is in accordance with a 2023 amendment to the Special Adoption Law of 2012. However, the Korean government has not provided an adequate budget for the building in which adoption files could be stored nor the staff required for such a massive transfer of Korean adoption files from the 4 major Korean Adoption Agencies. Therefore, the future of what birth family search looks like for Korean Adoptees looks pretty uncertain, as the movement of files from Korean Adoption Agencies to NCRC (which is a Korean government agency) may be in limbo due to lack of budget, space, and staff. It is almost certain that the current Post-Adoption Service departments of the 4 major Korean Adoption Agencies would close following the movement of adoption files to NCRC. So while currently Korean Adoptees can conduct an in-person file review at their relevant Korean Adoption Agency, in the future, this will likely no longer be possible. It seems unclear whether or not a file review will be possible at NCRC once the files are transferred to them from the Korean Adoption Agencies. This is because NCRC currently does not have the physical space to house the massive amount of Korean Adoption files nor the staff to manage them.
We want to note that NCRC was very kind in their responses to us. However, it seems clear now (as it has always seemed clear) that NCRC does not have control over how much funding the Korean government provides them nor the number of birth family search staff they can hire.
If you are a KSS Adoptee with any interest in birth family search - we cannot more strongly recommend that you request a birth family search and your KSS KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary NOW - before the transfer of files from KSS to NCRC happens. If you are a KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptee ONLY, please see the “Illustrated Step By Step” Guide here for information:
Step By Step KSS Birth Family Search
The file transfer process from the Korean Adoption Agencies to NCRC is very likely going to be an uncertain mess. So if you are a KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptee, be sure to reach out to us at paperslipadoptee@gmail.com for FREE assistance in how to request a birth family search from KSS and how to request your “KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary”. Please note that this document is specific to KSS Adoptees and does NOT apply to Korean Adoptees from other agencies.
If you are NOT a KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptee, please see:
Korean Adoptee Starter Guide
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Question: As KSS (Korea Social Service Adoptees) we are concerned about the movement of files from KSS to NCRC beginning in July 2025.
We understand that NCRC may not have the funding / space / staff to handle the movement of our files and birth family search.
Regarding NCRC's Response: It was clear from NCRC's response that they do not have control over the funding provided to them for the building to house adoption files from the 4 major Korean Adoption Agencies. They apparently will hire 3 more birth family search workers, but we told them that this was not enough, and that there was a need for English speaking NCRC workers. NCRC said they understood but that such workers were difficult to find.
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Question: We also want to make sure that ALL KSS documents are preserved:
ALL paper files – KSS has files dating back to at least 1964 for each Adoptee.
ALL Microfiche files – which we know were digitized in the 1980s and can be viewed on KSS’ computers.
ALL cancelled adoption files – the files of adoptions which were not successful.
DEATH RECORDS for children who died at KSS – We know that KSS has “death books” dating back at least to the 1970s.
ALL Ledgers / Notebooks that KSS has in boxes and in storage cabinets at KSS.
We are concerned about files being digitized and the originals being thrown away.
It is vitally important that ALL paper files be preserved, and not digitized then thrown away.
·Often important info is on the BACK of documents and photos.
Regarding NCRC's Response: NCRC said that they will NOT destroy paper files. Their goal is to preserve and make documents available to Adoptees, in accordance with Korean privacy law.
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Question: We want to make sure that after KSS files are moved to the NCRC, that KSS Adoptees can still access the (KSS specific document) “KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary”. KSS Adoptees can currently request this document from KSS.
Regarding NCRC's Response: NCRC seemed to confirm that KSS Adoptees would still be provided with a (partly redacted) copy of the (KSS specific document) “KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary” after files are moved from KSS to NCRC. They mentioned that NCRC workers have trouble reading the Hanja (an older mixture of Chinese and Korean) text found on some of the older KSS documents (documents from the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s).
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Question: Does NCRC have any oversight over which files are transferred from KSS to NCRC? Who double checks to ensure that KSS does not hide or destroy information before our files are transferred?
Regarding NCRC's Response: NCRC will not do the transfer of files themselves. Another company will handle the actual physical transfer of files. By law, the Korean Adoption Agencies must provide all documents for transfer to NCRC.
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Question: What will birth family search through NCRC look like after our files are transferred from KSS to NCRC? We know that NCRC has just 2-3 birth family search workers currently to serve the needs of ALL Korean Adoptees around the world. We know that funding of NCRC is up to the Korean government to provide more birth family search workers, but we also know that the Korean government underfunds NCRC. How many more workers will be hired to handle the increased demand on NCRC once our files are transferred?
Regarding NCRC's Response: NCRC did not make clear what a file review might look like once the adoption files are transferred from the Korean Adoption Agencies to NCRC. Currently they do not have a proper building or space for the files so there is not a way to know what a file review process at NCRC might look like at this point.
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Question: How can NCRC supervise the transfer process to ensure that our files are not lost / destroyed?
Regarding NCRC's Response: By law, the Korean Adoption Agencies must provide all documents to NCRC.
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Question: What was the incentive for modifying the 2012 Special Adoption Law to allow the transfer of files from the Korean adoption agencies to NCRC?
Regarding NCRC's Response: I am unclear on their answer, but it seems that the Korean government wishes to take “more responsibility” for the adoption files.
Our Takeaway for KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptees.
Please NOTE: Please DO NOT contact KSS if you are NOT a KSS Adoptee! This will waste severely limited resources. If you are are not a KSS Adoptee, please see the Korean Adoptee Starter Guide instead.
A recent and unexpected conversation with representatives from NCRC (the National Center for the Rights of the Child) - which is an agency of the Korean government - gave us the opportunity to discuss some of our worst fears about what the process of files being moved from Korean Adoption Agencies to NCRC (effectively, the Korean government) might be like for Korean Adoptees attempting to conduct a birth family search in the midst of this uncertain process. Files are by law supposed to move to NCRC starting in July 2025. We can’t say that things look good, as NCRC does not have a building to house the massive amount of adoption files, nor the budget nor staff to manage them. We think it’s very possible that birth family search could get stuck in limbo once this process of moving files begins.
We can’t say that things look bright for the future of birth family search in the next several years as this mess gets slowly and bureaucratically sorted out by the Korean government.
*We cannot more strongly recommend that any KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptees with an interest in birth family search request both a birth family search AND their “KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary” (a document unique to KSS which may contain secret birth parent info) NOW - BEFORE KSS files get moved to NCRC starting in July 2025.
To request BOTH a birth family search AND your KOREAN Adoptive Child Study Summary (at the same time), please see the “Illustrated Step By Step Guide” about halfway down the page here:
Step By Step KSS Birth Family Search
We at Paperslip are happy to review your KSS birth family search forms for free BEFORE you submit them to KSS! This could potentially save you YEARS of wasted time, as KSS Adoptees often make mistakes on these forms. Please email us at: paperslipadoptee@gmail.com
After KSS files are moved from KSS to NCRC, KSS Adoptees will likely no longer be able to conduct a file review at KSS’ current Post-Adoption Services building. KSS will likely tear down this building and then there will be literally nothing left of KSS - except for its Feeder Orphanages around Korea.
Adoption Files Are Moving From ALL Korean Adoption Agencies To NCRC Starting In July 2025 Due To S. Korea’s Coming Ratification of the Hague Convention.
This Korean article from May 10th, 2023, shows the link between S. Korea's coming ratification of the Hague Convention with the forthcoming centralization of adoption files at the Korean Government Agency NCRC. This is what we have been calling the transfer or movement of files from the Korean Adoption Agencies (including KSS) to NCRC in July 2025.
Korean Article link / Yonhap News:
https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20230509148400530?fbclid=IwY2xjawExnBBleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHQEsrEuOA0T0_Tm4tpmxfvx6-K3zdqnVi6EEjG5agJuSvOSqLen9dxHhGQ_aem_E6lAUjX25OaV7UhvxdkUew
Please note that what the article refers to as "Child Rights Protection Agency" is the SAME thing as NCRC (The National Center for the Rights of the Child).
Bolds ours / translation via ChatGPT:
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Title: Will 'Child-Centered' Adoption Become a Reality? Hague Convention Ratification Efforts for 2025
Posted: May 10, 2023, 06:22
Summary: Expectations for the passage of international adoption laws within the year... Strengthening responsibilities for adopting countries both domestically and internationally.
The 'Second Forum on Child-Centered Adoption' held in April last year.
[Photo provided by Yonhap News]
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Ko Mi-hye – The ratification of the 'Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption' by the National Assembly, aimed at establishing a child-centered adoption system and enhancing the responsibility of adopting countries, is expected to occur as early as 2025.
According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare on the 10th, the South Korean government is working on ratifying the Hague Convention (hereafter referred to as the Hague Convention) alongside domestic and international adoption system reforms.
A Ministry official stated, "Once the adoption-related laws are passed in the National Assembly, the ratification will be carried out at the time of the law's enforcement two years later. We expect the laws to be passed within the year and the ratification to take place in 2025."
The Hague Convention is a multilateral treaty adopted at the 1993 Hague Conference on Private International Law and entered into force in 1995, designed to protect the human rights of children moving between countries through international adoption and to set out procedures and requirements to prevent abduction and trafficking.
The Convention stipulates that adoptions should respect children's fundamental rights and ensure their best interests, prioritize the protection of the child's original family, seek domestic foster care if necessary, and pursue international adoption only as a last resort.
Above all, it emphasizes that adoptions should be child-centered and that international adoptions should be minimized. It also strengthens the responsibilities of countries and the cooperation system between countries in international adoptions.
Currently, there are 105 member countries, among which South Korea, Russia, and Nepal have signed but not yet ratified the Convention.
In May 2013, then-Minister of Health and Welfare Jin-Young visited The Hague in the Netherlands and signed the Convention. The government at the time promised to complete the domestic ratification process within two years, but it has not been ratified in the decade since.
Legal and institutional adjustments are required first, but issues such as the role of private adoption agencies and the scope of adoption information disclosure have delayed discussions.
Currently, there are proposals for the complete revision of the Adoption Special Cases Act and the establishment of the International Adoption Law before the National Assembly.
Once these bills are passed and the implementation period is completed, the adoption system in South Korea will shift from being dependent on private adoption agencies to a state-responsible system.
The domestic adoption system for children in need of protection will also be restructured so that local governments handle decisions and protection for adopted children, while the Ministry of Health and Welfare's Adoption Policy Committee will oversee adoption evaluations and placements. All adoption records will be transferred to the Child Rights Protection Agency for systematic management.
Calls to strengthen national responsibility for adoption were heightened following the 'Jeong In case' in 2020, where a child died due to abuse by adoptive parents.
In international adoptions, procedures will be established to mutually verify records and eligibility of all adopted children and their adoptive parents between countries. The government will also check the child's adaptation status, including nationality acquisition after adoption.
The government also plans to establish a basic plan for domestic adoption activation by 2026 to promote domestic adoption.
Contact: mihye@yna.co.kr