The South Korean Twin Registry.

The South Korean Twin Registry (SKTR), previously called the Seoul Twin Family Study, is a nationwide volunteer registry of South Korean twins and their families. Since 2002, the SKTR has been updated in 4 important ways. First, continued sampling led to an increase in the number of twins. Second, the target area, Seoul, was enlarged to include other cities and rural areas in the country. Third, the target population was extended from school-aged twins to preschool and adult twins. Fourth, the research focus was expanded to include psychiatric and physical disease phenotypes. The present article describes a brief history of the SKTR, goals and current research highlights, recent major accomplishments, and future directions.