- rachelrheedesign
Seoul, South Korea
Updated: Apr 28, 2022
안녕하세요 (pronouced: annyeonghaseyo) ... in English: Hello!
Welcome to Seoul, the capitol of South Korea! Home to almost 10 million people, 4 UNESCO World Heritage sites, sky-scrapers, temples, and of course, good food, this city is a crossroads of deep Korean heritage and modern Korean technological innovation!
Seoul is also home to my dad's side of the family, from which I have 51% Korean DNA based on my AncestryDNA test.
As far as my dad knows, every one of his direct ancestors, thus all of my direct paternal ancestors, were born and raised in South Korea. Today, my grandparents (or as I call them in Korean, Halmoni and Harabeoji) as well as my other paternal relatives live in some of these picturesque high-rise buildings that overlook the stunning Han River.
My dad came to the U.S. during middle school and has lived in the Northeastern U.S. ever since! I celebrate this half of my DNA story mainly in terms of FOOD (which is super important in my family). On special occasions, my parents and I love to cook traditional Korean dishes like kalbi (Korean BBQ ribs), japchae (delicious glass noodles), and pajeon (scallion pancakes).
In Korea, DNA testing and genome collection efforts seem to be mainly focused on public health, rather than the larger American interest in purchasing DNA tests for fun holiday presents. I was surprised to learn that Korea actually has one of the largest biobanks in the world: The National Biobank of Korea. However, despite Korea’s expansive biobank of DNA, Korea’s Bioethics and Safety Act is very strict about how genetic tests and data can be used, stating that only medical institutions are allowed to conduct genetic testing connecting with prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of diseases. Even then, there are stricter guidelines and prerequisites for Korean genetic tests and most genetic tests are not covered by Korea’s national health insurance[1].
This may correlate with the lower number of Koreans who take tests like AncestryDNA’s test and thus, a lower number of Koreans who are willing and/or able to contribute to the reference panel.
[1] https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/3b1ee34f-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/3b1ee34f-en