The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry plans to conduct what would become the first DNA tests by the state to identify the remains of war dead gathered from abroad and in Okinawa.
The tests will first be experimental, according to ministry officials, but once their effectiveness is determined, the state aims to fully introduce the tests in fiscal 2003 or later.
There have been four cases in which DNA tests have led to identifying remains, at the cost of relatives, creating calls for the state to conduct such tests.