The first genealogical records in Asia were kept in China during the 6 Dynasties (六朝, 육조) Period to record the royal family's bloodline. Individuals began keeping their own genealogical records in the Han (漢) Period, which were used to select applicants for government positions  based on family backgrounds and the deeds of ancestors. This was the beginning of an age of family record-keeping.

The first genealogical record known to have been kept in Korean history is Wangdae Jongrok (王代宗錄, 왕대종록), the bloodline of the Goryeo royal family written by Kim Gwan-eui during the time of King Euijong (1146-1170).
If you look more closely at Goryeo (高麗, 고려) history, however, you will see that the yangban nobleman of the period considered keeping a family pedigree extremely important, and considering that a separate government office was charged with keeping and preserving genealogical records of the powerful clans of the time, it can be assumed that genealogy has played a major role in Korean society since then.

In the Joseon Period, many noble families privately kept their own records, but the first systematically recorded genealogy we know of is the Seonghwabu of the Andong Kwons (安東權氏 成化譜, 안동권씨 성화보) written in 1476. In 1565, the Gajeongbo of the Munhwa Yus (文化柳氏 嘉靖譜, 문화유씨 가정보) included family bloodlines, and this became an example used by leading clans striving to be first in printing genealogical records. As a result, most families began keeping their own genealogical records from the seventeenth century on.