This book addresses two main topics. The first is forensic anthropology, which originally focused on criminal investigations and the anthropological examination of human remains. Over time, its application has expanded to include various projects, such as the recovery and identification of war casualties, among others. The second topic explored in this book is personal identification, a field developed to identify individuals by compiling biological profiles, including data on sex, age, height, pathological findings, and genetic markers, among other factors.
Just a few decades ago, South Korea had little to no tradition in forensic anthropology or personal identification. However, thanks to the consistent efforts of forensic scientists over the years, these fields have grown significantly, producing remarkable research outcomes and accumulating extensive expertise in both forensic anthropology and personal identification.
In fact, this book is a direct result of those efforts in Korea. Many scholars have contributed to its preparation, and the chapters are designed to cover a wide range of topics, including the recovery and identification of archaeological and war remains, craniofacial reconstruction, genetic testing, and more. While many excellent and diverse books on forensic anthropology and personal identification have been published globally, this book holds particular significance as it is the first to introduce the numerous cases of forensic anthropology and personal identification encountered by Korean anthropologists during their fieldwork.