Anchor: In 2011, 48 human remains and many relics dating back seven thousand years to the Neolithic Era were found on Busan’s Gadeok Island. The discovery was groundbreaking in itself, but even more astonishing is the latest DNA analysis, which suggests possible ties between the European and Korean peoples. Scientists have found biological traces of Europeans in the bodies that are no longer found in modern-day Koreans.
Our Park Jong-hong has the story.
 
Report: About three years ago, 48 prehistoric human remains were found on Gadeok Island in Busan on the southeastern tip of Korea. 
 
Recently, a team of researchers conducted DNA analyses on the bodies dating back seven thousand years to the Neolithic Age. 
 
Surprisingly, the research team from Chung-Ang University discovered mitochondrial types in about ten bodies that were similar to the ones found in modern-day Europeans.
 
Professor Lee Kwang-ho explained that the mitochondrial type is of the matrilineal origin and is not found in modern-day Koreans.
 
[Sound bite: Prof. Lee Kwang-ho - College of Natural Sciences, Chung-Ang University (Korean)]
“This discovery could provide important data determining the genetic affinities between the modern Korean race and modern Europeans.”
 
Given the artifacts found alongside the bodies, the prehistoric humans are presumed to have lived in Korea. However, the remains from Gadeok Island were found buried in a unique style also found in Germany with the limbs folded.
 
Until now it has been widely believed that the human race from Africa crossed Central Asia to later settle down in the Korean Peninsula, but the latest discovery may shake the foundations of that established notion.
 
Dr. Harald Meller of the State Museum of Prehistory in Germany stressed the importance of studying the connection between Korean and ethnic European races.
 
[Sound bite: Dr. Harald Meller - Director, State Museum of Prehistory in Halle (German)]
"I hope [the unearthing of the grave in Gadeok Island] will promote further research in not only Korea, but also with us, and pave the way for future joint research."
 
Further studies are hoped to shed light on not only the origin of the Korean race but also unravel the mysteries of the migration of the human races.
Park Jong-hong KBS World Radio News.