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In the case of corporate researcher Kim (39), the result was good news. On May 20, he had received a parcel at his office in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province containing the DNA test kit for his two-year old daughter, two days after he made the application. Kim had become suspicious of his wife and searched the Internet for DNA testing websites. He found the procedure surprisingly simple: request a test kit online or by phone, send it back by courier and get the results in your e-mail. Kim did, and a day later he was assured that his daughter was biologically related to him.

Paternity DNA tests started in the U.S., and until recently a doubtful parent in Korea had to fork out W3-4 million (US$1=W948) for a complicated procedure. But now, applicants no longer have to drop into hospital to have their sample taken, and the cost is a mere one-sixth of what it used to be. Result are generally available within 24 hours, and those concerned about privacy can get their result online rather than in the post and from abroad if need be.

DNA testing institutes do not need to be approved so long as they register with the related government agency. In short, anyone can set up a test lab. After laws on bioethics and biosafety took effect in January last year, some 100 such institutes registered with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and as of April this year there were 162 of them.

One reason for the demand is that Korea’s sexual mores are loosening. Another is a love of convenience. But experts warn regulations are needed in some areas of paternity DNA testing.

“Paternity DNA tests have become a part of everyday life in soap operas and other TV shows, and the procedure itself is as simple as home shopping, which prompts people to have one without thinking about it much,” says Cho Kyung-ae of the Korea Legal Aid Center for Family Relations. “But the test can break up a family, regardless of its result, and people need to think very carefully before they have one.” Divorce proceedings related to paternity DNA tests, which were quite rare until three years ago, now number two or three a month.

(englishnews@chosun.com )