International Adoptee-Led KSS K-Number Research (2020-Current) Reveals KSS K-Number Encoding In The First Digit.

*IMPORTANT NOTE:

This page applies to KSS (Korea Social Service) Adoptees ONLY.

We believe that KSS was unique amongst the 4 major Korean Adoption Agencies to ENCODE its K-Numbers in the FIRST digit per each of KSS’ Known Western Partner Adoption Agencies.

If you were adopted through any of the other Korean Adoption Agencies below, KSS’ encoded K-Number system DOES NOT apply to you:

1. Holt KOREA (largest of the Korean adoption agencies) or Holt International. NOTE: Holt split into Holt Korea and Holt International around 1976 in order to remain an "indigenous" agency in Korea, after the Korean government decided that only Korean run adoption agencies could process international adoptions.

2. ESWS / ECWS (Eastern Social Welfare Society / Eastern Child Welfare Society)

3. KWS (Korea Welfare Society) - previously SWS (Social Welfare Society) / CPS (Child Placement Service) / Daehan Placement Service / 대한양연회 (Daehan means Korea)

KSS Adoptees Around The World Contributed To This Adoptee-Led Research Project.

NOTE: This Adoptee-led informal KSS K-Number research has been conducted from 2020-current with several hundred KSS Adoptees adopted through KSS in Korea to the US, Netherlands, Denmark, and Switzerland who are part of an online community of international KSS Adoptees. This research is well documented and known online amongst hundreds of KSS Adoptees around the world. It is only because of the generous sharing of information amongst KSS Adoptees that this informal research has been possible. Thank you to all KSS Adoptees who have participated!

No other non-Adoptee outside party has had any role in our original K-Number research.
Paperslip is NOT affiliated with DKRG (Danish Korean Rights Group) or NLKRG (Netherlands Korean Rights Group).

We had not wanted to make this information public previously, since it would confuse non-KSS Adoptees. However, since DKRG tried to take credit for our original research, we felt it was time to come forward. There is much more information which we know about the K-Number system which we will only share with verified KSS Adoptees.

Please note that you are welcome to share this page with Adoptees - however, you may not simply copy / paste this information and claim it as your research.

Please contact us if you find any instances of plagiarism of our information, or misleading information about KSS K-Numbers.

We did not include EVERYTHING we know about KSS K-Numbers in this online summary. We only ever made this research PUBLIC because we knew that DKRG had knowingly assigned FALSE credit for our KSS K-Number research to one of its supporters on January 1st, 2023. We did not want DKRG to spread FALSE information about KSS’ K-Number system, and we did not want DKRG to continue to attribute FALSE credit to another party. Previously, we gladly would have worked TOGETHER with DKRG but we were abruptly, deliberately and without explanation blocked out of the DKRG movement in 2022, apparently due to DKRG’s desire to take credit for our original research.

Where Do I Find My KSS K-Number?

Locate your KSS Case No. (“Caes No.) / K-Number at the top of your English Adoptive Child Study Summary. Your K-Number may alternately be written or typed on other adoption documents, such as your Korean Travel Certificate or Passport, or on other adoption documents.

Please see graphic below.

Please note that the example document below is from the 1970s, and that the style of your English Adoptive Child Study Summary may be slightly different.

*Please note that if you were a KSS Adoptee from the early 1960s adopted through International Social Service (ISS), Welcome House (WH) or Lutheran Social Services (LSS), you may have an unencoded 3 digit Case Number such as 123. It appears that KSS began to encode first digit K-Numbers for Welcome House and Lutheran Social Services and seemingly NOT for International Social Service (ISS), which were KSS’ earliest known Western Partner Adoption Agencies, around Relinquishment Year 1968. As KSS added (formed agreements with) more Western Partner Adoption Agencies, KSS assigned first digit K-Number codes to these agencies. (An easy way to think about this is, if you are a KSS Adoptee from the early 1960s and you have a 3 digit “case” number, you can assume that there was no encoding in your “case” number, and that these numbers were purely sequential according to the first date of Relinquishment to KSS - not date of birth).

If you are a US Adoptee, you can file a FREE FOIA request, which will enable you to obtain many adoption documents.

Contact us if you are having trouble locating your KSS K-Number.

What Does A KSS K-Number Look Like?

• The earliest KSS Case Numbers from the early 1960s were UNENCODED and are believed to be purely sequential 3 digit numbers, such as 123.
  
  

• ISS (INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SERVICE) Case / K-Numbers from the early 1960s appear to be unencoded 3 digit numbers, such as 123. KSS does not appear to have introduced an encoded K-Number system until Relinquishment Year 1968 (the year a child was first within KSS’ system, not the year s/he was born), when KSS began to add more Partner Western Adoption Agencies to its roster.

  • *Please note that if you were a KSS Adoptee from the early 1960s (Relinquishment Years 1964-1967) adopted through International Social Service (ISS), Welcome House (WH) or Lutheran Social Services (LSS), you may have an UNENCODED 3 digit Case Number such as 123. It appears that KSS began to encode first digit K-Numbers for Welcome House and Lutheran Social Services and seemingly NOT for International Social Service (ISS), which were KSS’ earliest known Western Partner Adoption Agencies, around 1968. As KSS added more Western Partner Adoption Agencies, KSS assigned first digit K-Number codes to these agencies.
    
    

• WELCOME HOUSE (WH) / US - First digit code: 1

  • A K-Number for Welcome House (WH) (US) would have the first digit as 1 and be a 4 or 5 digit K-Number, such as: K-1XXX or KW-1XXXX (where X = any number).

    • KW: K = Korea / W = Welcome House
      
      

• LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES (LSS) / (US) - First digit code: 2

  • A K-Number for Lutheran Social Services (LSS) (US) would have the first digit as 2 and be a 4 or 5 digit K-Number, such as: K-2XXX or KL-2XXXX (where X = any number).

    • KL: K = Korea, L = LSS
      
      

• NETHERLANDS - First digit code: 3

  • A K-Number for the Netherlands would have the first digit as 3 and be a 4 or 5 digit K-Number, such as: K-3XXX or K-3XXXX (where X = any number). There was no letter associated with Netherlands in the K-Number.
    
    

• UNKNOWN (?) - First digit code: 4

  • We currently do not know of any KSS Adoptees with a K-Number beginning with 4. Please see the sections below for our best guess as to what “4” stood for. Spoiler alert: “4” may have either stood for ISS (International Social Service) or have been skipped for reasons of superstition.

  • Update: A KSS social worker confirmed that she knows of very few cases that start with 4 - she has never seen a KSS K-Number beginning with "4" - it was not a meaningful designation and was assigned to very few cases for an agency that did not last long. 
    
    

• DENMARK - First digit code: 5

  • A K-Number for Denmark would have the first digit as 5 and be a 4 or 5 digit K-Number, such as: K-5XXX or K-5XXXX (where X = any number). There was no letter associated with Denmark in the K-Number.
    
    

• SWITZERLAND - First digit code: 6

  • A K-Number for Switzerland would have the first digit as 6 and be a 4 or 5 digit K-Number, such as: K-6XXX or K-6XXXX (where X = any number). There was no letter associated with Switzerland in the K-Number.
    
    

• LOVE THE CHILDREN (LTC) (Pennyslvania, US) - First digit code: 7

  • Confirmed by KSS: “Love The Children” of Pennsylvania, which was founded in 1978.

  • We currently do not know of any KSS Adoptees with a K-Number beginning with 7.
    
    

• FAMILY / FOREIGN ADOPTION CONSULTANTS (FAC) / F&CS FOSTER CARE AND ADOPTION SERVICE - (MICHIGAN, US) - First digit code: 8

  • A K-Number for Family / Foreign Adoption Consultants (FAC) / F&CS Foster Care and Adoption Service - (Michigan, US) would have the first digit as 8 and be a 4 or 5 digit K-Number, such as: K-8XXX or K-8XXXX (where X = any number). There was no letter associated with FAC / F&CS in the K-Number.
    
    

• NOTHING - First digit code: 9

  • Update: KSS confirmed that there was NO Partner Western Adoption Agency associated with the first digit code “9”. FAC (first digit code “8” was the last Partner Western Adoption Agency of KSS).

  • We currently do not know of any KSS Adoptees with a K-Number beginning with 9. Please see the sections below for our best guess as to what “9” stood for. Spoiler alert: “9” may actually not have been assigned to any Partner Western Adoption Agency by KSS, as by 1988 Korean adoption had dropped precipitously, and KSS would likely not have had a need to find an additional Partner Western Adoption Agency after it formed a partnership with FAC of Michigan in 1985.

What is a K-Number?

The K-Number is basically a case number, assigned once KSS decided which of its Western Partner Adoption Agencies the child would be adopted through. This case number was used on the English Adoptive Child Study Summary in order to identify the child both to KSS and her or his assigned Western Partner Adoption Agency:

Hyperlinked List of All Known Korea Social Service (KSS) Partner Western Adoption Agencies in the US and Europe.

KSS uniquely (amongst the 4 major Korean Adoption Agencies) encoded the first digit of KSS K-Numbers per the Western Partner Adoption Agencies (see list below). 

This system was unique to KSS and we don't believe that any other Korean adoption agencies encoded their K-Numbers in such a way.

Please note that KSS itself has CONFIRMED the first digit K-Number codes for 1, 2, 3, 4 , 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. These codes are considered FACT and not hypothesis. (Please note that according to KSS, there are NO associated Partner Western Adoption Agencies associated with first digit codes 4 and 9).

The K-Number system is basically a timeline of when KSS added new Western Partner Adoption Agencies:

• *Please note that in the early 1960s when KSS was first established, KSS partnered with the Western Partner Adoption Agency ISS (International Social Services). However, the earliest 1960s KSS K-Numbers for ISS were NOT given an agency code by KSS.

  • *Please note that if you were a KSS Adoptee from the early 1960s adopted through International Social Service (ISS), Welcome House (WH) or Lutheran Social Services (LSS), you may have an unencoded 3 digit Case Number such as 123. It appears that KSS began to encode first digit K-Numbers for Welcome House and Lutheran Social Services and seemingly NOT for International Social Service (ISS), which were KSS’ earliest known Western Partner Adoption Agencies, around 1968. As KSS added more Western Partner Adoption Agencies, KSS assigned first digit K-Number codes to these agencies.
    

• 1 = Welcome House (Part of the Pearl S. Buck Foundation) (USA)

• 2 = Lutheran Social Services (USA)

• 3 = Netherlands: SIA (Stichting Interlandelijke Adoptie) / NFIA (Netherlands' Foundation for Intercountry Adoption), BIA (Bureau Interlandelijke Adoptie), Wereldkinderen

• 4 = Update: A KSS social worker confirmed that she knows of very few cases that start with 4 - she has never seen a KSS K-Number beginning with "4" - according to her, “4” was not a meaningful designation and was assigned to very few cases for an agency that did not last long. 

  • We currently do not know of any KSS Adoptees with first digit K-number code “4”.

  • KSS denies that “4” was skipped due to superstition.

• 5 = Denmark: Adoption Center (AC) / AC Børnehjælp

• 6 = Terres des Hommes (Switzerland)

• 7 = Update: Confirmed: “Love The Children” (LTC) (Pennsylvania, US)

  • We currently do not know of any KSS Adoptees with first digit K-number code “7”.

• 8 = Family Adoption Consultants / Foreign Adoption Consultants / FAC / F&CS Foster Care and Adoption Service (Michigan / USA)

• 9 = Update: NO agency was associated with this code - 8 (FAC / Michigan) was KSS' last Western Partner Adoption Agency.

  • We currently do not know of any KSS Adoptees with first digit K-number code “9”. We think this is likely because KSS probably did not form any other partnerships with Western Adoption Agencies after 1985 - given the fact that Korean Adoption dropped precipitously after 1988, we doubt that KSS would have formed any new partnerships with Western Adoption Agencies after its presumably final partnership was formed with FAC of Michigan (first digit K-Number code “8”) in 1985.

KSS added more Western Partner Adoption Agencies over time, and gave each Western Partner Adoption Agency its own first digit code. This way KSS could keep track of / assign children to its various Western Partner Adoption Agencies.

We believe it took time for KSS to determine which children would be adopted through which of its Western Partner Adoption Agencies. Therefore, there was probably a little time after a child was first Reqlinquished (to KSS or a feeder orphanage) before she or he was assigned a K-Number by KSS.

KSS had a complicated numbering system for children involving many different kinds of numbers, not many of which we understand.

KSS’ First Digit K-Number Codes Are A Timeline of When KSS Formed Partnerships With Its Partner Western Adoption Agencies.

We have always said that the KSS first digit K-Number codes were a timeline of when KSS formed partnerships with its Partner Western Adoption Agencies, but KSS’ own timeline on its website confirms it. 

Below the known / confirmed by KSS first digit K-Number codes below, we have copied the information about when KSS formed a parntership with each of KSS’ known Partner Western Adoption Agencies from KSS’ website:

http://www.kssinc.org/kor/donation/history.php

Please note that these codes have been confirmed by KSS and are considered FACT.  We do not know which Western Partner Adoption Agencies the first digit codes 4, 7 and 9 stand for, or if they stand for anything. However, we have our best guesses which you can read about below.

NOTE: *We now know that 7 stands for “Love The Children” of Pennsylvania / US. According to KSS, 4 does not really have an associated Partner Western Adoption Agency (or not at least for one that lasted long) and KSS also says that they have never seen a K-Number beginning with 4. KSS confirms that 9 does not have any associated Partner Western Adoption Agency.

NOTE: It is known that KSS worked briefly with “Love The Children” (LTC) of Pennsylvania, with former Welcome House Director Mary L. Graves as founder of LTC (she was fired from Welcome House around 1978 or 1979 and then founded LTC). However, LTC primarily worked with ECWS or ESWS, not KSS, over the years. So it is possible that LTC is one of the unknown first digit codes, but at present we do not know this for a fact. *We now know that 7 stands for “Love The Children”.

~

The first digit of a 4 or 5 digit K-Number is encoded for KSS’ Partner Western Adoption Agency per the codes listed below. 

First digit codes for KSS Western Partner Adoption Agencies (Relinquishment Years 1968-2012), with KSS’ dates of the formation of partnerships with its Western Partner Adoption Agencies below: 

• 1963: Establishment of the Korea Social Service Association Establishment Preparation Committee and Appointment of Founding Chairman Baek Geun-chil

• *Please note that in the early 1960s when KSS was first established, KSS partnered with the Western Partner Adoption Agency ISS (International Social Services). However, the earliest 1960s KSS K-Numbers for ISS were NOT given an agency code by KSS.

  • *Please note that if you were a KSS Adoptee from the early 1960s adopted through International Social Service (ISS), Welcome House (WH) or Lutheran Social Services (LSS), you may have an unencoded 3 digit Case Number such as 123. It appears that KSS began to encode first digit K-Numbers for Welcome House and Lutheran Social Services and not for ISS, which were KSS’ earliest known Western Partner Adoption Agencies, around 1968. As KSS added more Western Partner Adoption Agencies, KSS assigned first digit K-Number codes to these agencies.
    

• 1 = Welcome House / Pearl S. Buck Foundation - (Pennsylvania, US)

• 1964:

• Establishment of the Korea Social Service Foundation and
  inauguration of Chairman Baek Geun-chil

• Accreditation of child welfare facilities and opening of temporary shelters Mutual cooperation agreement with US social welfare agencies: (WELCOME HOUSE, INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SERVICE, LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICE)
  

• 2 = Lutheran Social Services (LSS) - (Minnesota, US)

• 1964:

• Establishment of the Korea Social Service Foundation and
  inauguration of Chairman Baek Geun-chil

• Accreditation of child welfare facilities and opening of temporary shelters Mutual cooperation agreement with US social welfare agencies: (WELCOME HOUSE, INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SERVICE, LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICE)
  

• 3 = Netherlands: SIA (Stichting Interlandelijke Adoptie) / NFIA (Netherlands' Foundation for Intercountry Adoption), BIA (Bureau Interlandelijke Adoptie), Wereldkinderen

• 1969:

• Mutual cooperation agreement with Netherlands' Foundation for Intercountry Adoption (Paperslip Editor Note: likely referred to as NFIA on KSS Adoption Files. NFIA is the English name for SIA, Stichting Interlandelijke Adoptie)

  Inauguration of Chairman Kim Jong-jun
  

• 4 = Update - Confirmed: A KSS social worker confirmed that she knows of very few cases that start with 4 - she has never seen a KSS K-Number beginning with "4" - according to her, it was not a meaningful designation and was assigned to very few cases for an agency that did not last long.

  • If you are a KSS Adoptee with a K-Number beginning with “4”, please contact us! We’d love to hear from you.
    

• 5 = Adoption Center (AC) / AC Børnehjælp

• 1970:

• Mutual Cooperation Agreement with Danish Social Welfare Agency (AC INTERNATIONAL CHILD SUPPORT)
  

• 6 = Terre des Hommes - (Switzerland)

• 1972:

• Started a sponsorship project for underprivileged children (cooperating with domestic sponsors and Hanwha Children's Foundation)

• Mutual Cooperation Agreement with Swiss Social Welfare Agency (TERRE DES HOMMES)
  

• 7 = Update - Confirmed: Love The Children (LTC) (Pennsylvania, US)

  • It’s confirmed that the KSS K-Number first digit code “7” stood for “Love The Children”, which was founded in Pennsylvania by fired “Welcome House” Director Mary L. Graves in 1978. In terms of the sequential timeline of the creation of the first digit KSS K-Number codes, this makes sense. Update: As of November 11th, 2024, we have our first verified example of a KSS / LTC K-Number beginning with “7”. “Love The Children”, which was founded by ousted former "Welcome House” Executive Director Mary L. Graves in 1978, only worked with KSS for a short period of time before (for unknown reasons) beginning to work instead of KSS with the Korean Adoption Agency ESWS / ECWS (Eastern Social Welfare Society / Eastern Child Welfare Society). If you are a “Love The Children” Adoptee with a K-Number beginning with “7”, please contact us - we’d love to hear from you!
    

• 8 = Family / Foreign Adoption Consultants (FAC) / F&CS Foster Care and Adoption Service - (Michigan, US)

• 1985:

• Inauguration of Chairman Kim Jong-hee

• Mutual Cooperation Agreement with FOREIGN ADOPTION CONSULTANTS

• Mutual Cooperation Agreement with American Social Welfare Agency (FAMILY ADOPTION CONSULTANTS)
  

• 9 = Update - Confirmed: NO agency associated with this code - 8 (FAC / Michigan) was KSS' last Western Partner Adoption Agency.

  • CONFIRMED: We think it’s most likely that there was NOT a Western Partner Adoption Agency of KSS after 1985. Given the precipitous decline of Korean adoption in 1988, we doubt that KSS would have formed any further partnerships with Western Adoption Agencies after forming its partnership with FAC of Michigan in 1985 (which was assigned KSS first digit K-Number code “8”).

KSS Has Alluded To The First Digit K-Number Codes In Emails To Adoptees.

It should be noted that KSS has not tried to keep the fact that it encoded the first digit for their Western Partner Adoption Agencies particularly secret. KSS has openly alluded to the encoded K-Number system in emails sent to KSS Adoptees. However, to our knowledge, the entire list has never been spelled out for Adoptees by KSS.

However, no one - Adoptee or otherwise - had formulated any list of KSS’ encoded K-Number system until 2020. KSS Adoptee-led research is entirely responsible for what we know of KSS’ uniquely encoded K-Number system to date.

Notes About Things We Don’t Yet Know.

We are currently unaware of any KSS Adoptees who have 4, 7, or 9 as the first digit of their K-Numbers.

Update: The codes for 4, 7, and 9 have been confirmed by KSS (see above).

CONFIRMED: We believe it’s most likely that the KSS first digit code “7” stood for “Love The Children”. It is known that KSS partnered briefly with “Love The Children” starting in the 1978, which was founded by former Welcome House Director Mary L. Graves (deceased) after she was fired from “Welcome House” around 1978. However, “Love The Children” primarily worked with ECWS or ESWS (Eastern Child Welfare Society or Eastern Social Welfare Society) over the years, and at some point LTC stopped working with KSS. This is possibly why we know of no examples of KSS / LTC children - because there may have been very few of them.

CONFIRMED: The first digit K-number code “9” likely did not exist, because it’s unlikely that KSS formed a partnership with any Western Partner Adoption Agency following the likely last partnership it formed with FAC of Michigan in 1985. Korean Adoption dropped off precipitously in 1988, and so we doubt that KSS would have needed to form any additional partnerships with Western Adoption Agencies after it formed a partnership with FAC in 1985.

A Note About KSS’ Earliest 3 digit UNENCODED “Case” Numbers:

We do not know for sure if ISS (International Social Service) was considered a Western Partner Adoption Agency of KSS, or if it was considered more of a Korea-based adoption agency (or both - ISS was originally a Swiss organization). We do know that ISS left Korea sometime in the late 1960s or early 1970s. Purportedly, ISS did not want to create a long-term business out of adoption as did the other Korean Adoption Agencies, including KSS. We have heard from a respected researcher that around the time when KSS was originally founded in 1963, it was originally intended to be K-ISS, or a combination between KSS and ISS. However, this official partnership never actually happened, and Korea Social Service (KSS) has been the name of KSS since 1963. Some of the earliest known KSS Adoptees from the early 1960s are a mixture of ISS, Welcome House, and Lutheran Social Service Adoptees. At least in the first few years of KSS’ existence, beginning in 1964, these early KSS Adoptees had UNENCODED 3 digit “Case” numbers, and thus we do not believe that KSS / ISS children ever were assigned any first digit case or K-Number code.

KSS does not appear to have introduced first digit K-Number encoding until Relinquishment Year 1968.

4 vs 5 Digit K-Numbers + Repeating K-Numbers.

Following original research by KSS Adoptees beginning in 2020, it was discovered by KSS Adoptees that KSS periodically RESET its K-Numbers. This means that not every KSS Adoptee has a unique K-Number. In some time periods for some Partner Western countries of adoption, KSS alternated between a 4 and 5 digit K-Number system. A 4 digit K-Number is a K-Number such as K-X123 (where the first digit X is encoded for KSS’ Partner Western Adoption Agency) and a 5 digit K-Number is a K-Number such as K-X1234 (where the first digit X is encoded for KSS’ Partner Western Adoption Agency). It has been known since 2020 by KSS Adoptees that KSS reset the K-Numbers and that K-Numbers in some time periods and some Partner Western countries of adoption did repeat. KSS has confirmed this directly to KSS Adoptees.