Asexual reproduction will be legal starting next year at the earliest.

The Bioethics Policy Research Center announced its draft proposal for revising the Bioethics & Biosafety Law at a public hearing for the law on Friday at a university in Seoul.

It set forth regulations for asexual reproduction research, which involves reproduction using only the ovum without fertilized eggs or somatic cells.

Current laws had allowed somatic cell cloning research after deliberation by the National Bioethics Committee, but there had been no approvals for asexual reproduction as there were no relevant laws.

This proposal expands the law’s application from embryo, ovum and genes to all substances derived from the human body, including cells and body tissue.