DNA Testing with Korean Police

While the official Korean government portal states that you must first obtain an eligibility certificate from NCRC, in ground-level practice across Korean police stations, you are correct: adoptees can and regularly do walk directly into a Korean police station to register their DNA without going through NCRC first.

Under the Act on the Protection and Support of Missing Children, an adoptee can report directly to the police to request that DNA testing be collected as an individual searching for biological parents or family.

What You Need to Bring

• Your Physical Passport: Bring your current, valid foreign passport (do not bring only photocopies).

• Printed Copies of Your Adoption File: Bring 2–3 printed copies of your adoption summary or child intake study (especially sheets showing you were abandoned, found, or that biological parents are unrecorded/unknown).

• Korean Translator / Native Speaker: Unless you speak fluent Korean, bring a bilingual friend, volunteer, or advocate. Front-desk officers rarely speak conversational English.

  • Note: Microsoft Translator is an effective real-time translation tool that makes these conversations easier.

Step-by-Step Walk-In Process at the Police Station

1. Go to a District Police Station (Gyeongchal-seo, 경찰서)

Do not go to a small neighborhood police box (Pachulso or Jiguk). Go to a major district police station. Walk in and ask for the Women and Juvenile Affairs Division (Yeoseong-Cheongsonyeon-Gwa, 여성청소년과), which handles missing child cases.

2. Declare Yourself as a Missing Person

Inform the intake officer that you were adopted abroad as a child, have no identifying biological parent data, and want to file a missing person report to submit your DNA under the Act on the Protection and Support of Missing Children.

3. Complete the Two Police Forms

The officer will provide two standard police intake documents:

• Missing Child / Person Report Form (Siljong-Adong Deung Sin-goseo, 실종아동등 신고서): You document your personal background, legal pre-adoption name, estimated date and location of birth or intake, and circumstances of relinquishment.

• Consent for Collection & Use of Genetic Information (Yujeonjeongbo Chwiheup Dong-uiseo, 유전정보 취급동의서): A legal waiver authorizing the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) and the National Forensic Service (NFS) to store your DNA profile in the missing persons registry.

4. Buccal Swab Collection

An officer will administer a standard cheek swab inside your mouth to collect saliva/epithelial cells.

5. Processing into the National Forensic Service (NFS)

Your swab is sent to the NFS. If a biological relative (parent or sibling) has registered or ever registers their DNA with the police looking for a missing child, an automated match will be flagged.

Ground Realities to Keep in Mind

• Station Discrepancies ("Luck of the Draw"): Police officers have discretion. Some stations process walk-in adoptees with zero resistance using only a passport and adoption records. Other stations may claim they cannot help without an NCRC certificate. If an officer refuses, do not get discouraged—visit a different district police station.

  
  

• Birth Parent Names in File: If your adoption documents contain clearly legible biological parent names, some officers may argue you are not "legally missing" and try to redirect you back to NCRC. Point out that the records are decades old or unverified to advocate for swabbing.

  
  

• Database Isolation: This test only matches one-to-one against individuals who have given DNA to the Korean police. It does not interface with commercial services like 23andMe or Ancestry, so you should test on both.