schmoopy85 asked 8 months ago
Do Koreans take the Ancestry DNA test?
I figured they may not, considering they most likely already know their lineage/ancestors.
2 Answers
Best Answer
Danny Kim Staff answered 8 months ago
The ancestry DNA testing trend has not caught on in Korea. I think part of it has to do with the country being much less diverse racially, so there’s not a lot of curiosity regarding where our ancestors are from. I’m sure there is a mix of Mongolian and maybe Indian or Japanese, Chinese in my blood, but at the end of the day it’s not something I would identify myself as.
We do on the other hand have these things called ‘jokbo(족보)’ which is a book of your entire lineage of your direct family. Many families have these books somewhere in their shelves, and if you really wanted to look at where you came from, you could just reference this book. However, these books are losing relevance as generations pass since its a remnant of the class system which hasn’t been around in Korea the past 100+ years. Plus a lot of slaves bought these jokbo’s to pretend they were not from a slave family, so we don’t even know if a lot of these are accurate!
We do on the other hand have these things called ‘jokbo(족보)’ which is a book of your entire lineage of your direct family. Many families have these books somewhere in their shelves, and if you really wanted to look at where you came from, you could just reference this book. However, these books are losing relevance as generations pass since its a remnant of the class system which hasn’t been around in Korea the past 100+ years. Plus a lot of slaves bought these jokbo’s to pretend they were not from a slave family, so we don’t even know if a lot of these are accurate!
Thank you for your reply! I found it very interesting. I’ve only recently heard of those lineage books. I think they would be interesting to read.
Keep up the good work! You and David work real hard! All the best!
~~~A soul from Seoul living in NY.
성혁 천 Staff answered 8 months ago
Not sure on DNA test.
I heard my parents generations know their own lineage and they must know. But I’m not interested in that much.
I heard my parents generations know their own lineage and they must know. But I’m not interested in that much.
Thank you for your reply.
I was just curious if it was worth taking the test. I was just looking to see if I might find some relations.
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