Anchor: The government will create a DNA database to help family members separated by the Korean War find their relatives in North Korea. The database is also expected to help address various legal problems that arise among separated families.
Our Bae Joo-yon has more.
 
Report: For the first time, the government has launched efforts to create a DNA database for family members separated by the Korean War.
 
The Unification Ministry said Thursday that it will begin collecting DNA samples and carry out DNA tests on some 12-hundred people out of the roughly 21-thousand who have requested such tests.
 
The ministry said it has selected a firm to carry out the DNA tests, adding it will begin collecting data shortly after the Chuseok holiday early next month.
 
The DNA database will be created by first collecting blood, saliva or hair samples, and then by carrying out DNA or chromosome tests before finally storing the information.
 
The ministry said by filing the data, confirmation for families in the North can be made even after the death of family members.
 
Director Kim Seong-keun of the South Korean Red Cross' International and Inter-Korean Bureau says the database will go beyond just helping confirm blood relations.
 
[Sound bite: Kim Seong-keun, Director of International and Inter-Korean Bureau at South Korea’s Red Cross]
“The database is important not only for confirming family relations and pursuing family reunions, but also for resolving legal problems that could arise.”
 
However, given the current speed of DNA tests, collecting the DNA samples for everyone who requested to take the tests is expected to take more than ten years.
 
The government plans to actively expand the database next year, placing priority on separated family members who are older in age.
Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News.