South Korea recently opened a new research lab specializing in primates, which will help local scientists develop new medicines.
Cho Sung-min reports.
South Korea has a new primate research center located in Jeollabuk-do Province.
The Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, which runs the center, says its the nation's biggest facility of its kind... and can support up to three-thousand monkeys.

The primates are used for various clinical tests,... since nearly ninety-four percent of their DNA structure matches that of humans.
That said, tests involving monkeys have resulted in some groundbreaking medical discoveries in the past... and contributed to the development of treatments for various diseases.

Until now, South Korea has had to buy monkeys from abroad for research -- at least 650 of them every year.
But the new facility makes it possible for the country to supply its own.


"This facility is built to provide monkeys for various tests conducted by local researchers. It's is also responsible for the raising of monkeys in case there's a need to export them in the future."

The center said it will contribute to the discovery of new medicines for illnesses for which there's still no cure.
It also said they're trying to have at least one-thousand monkeys there by the end of this year... and in the long term, about three-thousand by 2025.
Cho Sung-min, Arirang News.