The Rural Development Administration said Friday it will launch a genetic resources conservation program for livestock, beginning with hanwoo, or Korea's endemic breeds of cattle.

The agency said that documents made during Japan's colonial rule of Korea showed there were a variety of hanwoo breeds with different colors.

But hanwoo cattle of colors other than yellow disappeared from the Korean Peninsula, as Japanese authorities decided to set yellow cattle as the standard breed.

The agency also said that according to Japanese colonial documents, Japan moved more than 1.5 million hanwoo cattle to Japan, China and Russia from 1910 to 1945.

The organization plans to preserve the genes of existing hanwoo breeds, and restore pure breeds by using its ovum transplantation technology.