1,000 Cases of Family Reunions Through Genetic Testing... National Forensic Service Reaches Milestone After 22 Years

[Financial News] The National Forensic Service has surpassed 1,000 cases in which it confirmed relationships between missing children and others and their families through DNA analysis. This comes 22 years after the genetic testing system for missing children was launched in 2004.
The National Forensic Service under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) announced on the 6th that the cumulative number of cases in which family relationships between missing children and others and their families were confirmed through genetic testing had reached 1,000, including first-degree relationships such as those between parents and children and second-degree relationships such as those between siblings.
The search for missing children and others through genetic analysis began with the enactment of the 'Act on the Protection and Support of Missing Children.' Initially, missing children were the primary targets, but following subsequent amendments to the law, the scope was expanded to include people with intellectual disabilities and older adults with dementia.
Testing is conducted by collecting oral cells after a person seeking a family member or a family member of a missing child or other person visits a police station, or after police investigate the circumstances at a protective facility. The National Center for the Rights of the Child (NCRC) assigns an encrypted identification code to the sample and manages personal information separately, after which the National Forensic Service analyzes the DNA.
The analysis results are searched in real time through the DNA Information System for Finding Missing Children and Others to verify family relationships. The system can verify not only first-degree relationships, such as those between parents and children, but also second-degree relationships, such as those between siblings.
The National Forensic Service also introduced a new forensic analysis technique this year to address the limitations of existing genetic testing. The method improves the accuracy and reliability of testing by cross-verifying results from different analytical systems.
Lee Bong-woo, director of the National Forensic Service, said, "Reaching 1,000 cases was made possible by 22 years of sustained efforts and advances in genetic analysis technology and databases," adding, "We will do our utmost to quickly locate missing children and others and return them to their families by mobilizing all our professional capabilities in cooperation with relevant agencies."

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