## 1 Introduction  
The prevalence of living modified organisms (LMOs) that result from advances in biotechnology, especially in modern agriculture, has been rapidly increasing. However, the extent to which LMOs could potentially have adverse effects on the natural environment or human health, remains both unclear and controversial. To address these potential risks, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which entered into force in December 1993, provided information on the safety of modern biotechnological advancements and this included LMOs [1]. Accordingly, the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CPB) from the CBD was adopted in January 2000 and aimed to maintain an appropriate level of safety for the transfer, handling, and use of LMOs that may negatively affect biodiversity [2]. South Korea signed the CPB in September 2000 and legalized the \"Transboundary Movement, Etc of LMO Act\" (herein referred to as LMO Act) in March 2001, to implement the protocol [3]. The CPB and LMO Act in South Korea came into effect in January 2008. The LMO Act designates the national authority for the safe management of LMOs to seven administrative agencies of the South Korean government. The Ministry of Environment (MOE) is in charge of the jurisdiction over LMOs when they are \"used to reduce or remove environmental pollutants or to restore the environment,\" and when there are \"effects on natural ecosystems\" [4]. As an affiliated organization of the MOE, the National Institute of Ecology (NIE) has been conducting LMO safety management practices, such as monitoring them in natural environments, the development of detection methods, and risk review/assessments. In particular, due to the concerns about the risks to natural ecosystems from the unintentional release of LMOs, environmental LMO monitoring and post-management projects have been conducted worldwide and have included the primary removal of spilled LMOs, the prevention of their further spread, and successful post-safety management, accompanied by risk assessments [5; 6; 7]. In 2009, the MOE initiated the natural environmental LMO monitoring and post-management project, to manage those LMOs that may affect ecosystem biodiversity. Since 2014, the NIE has used molecular-based detection methods to monitor and identify unintentionally released LM plants, including canola, corn, cotton, soybean, and alfalfa, in natural environments near import ports, roadsides, stockbreeding farmhouses, and feed factories [8; 9]. Canola (_Brassica napus_), which belongs to the genus _Brassica_ L, in the family Brassicaceae, is used worldwide as a vegetable oil, for biodiesel, and as a livestock feed [10]. It accounts for 12% of the world's total vegetable oil production after soybean [11]. Together with corn, soybean, and cotton, canola is one of the major LM crops [12]. Furthermore, the total cultivation area and yield of LM crops has been increasing gradually every year since their commercialization. In 2017, it was estimated that there were approximately 33.7 million hectares of global canola cultivation and around 30% (10.2 million hectares) of this was LM canola. Canada has the largest LM canola cultivation area (8.83 million hectares) in the world, followed by the United States at 876,000 hectares, Australia at 492,000 hectares, and Chile at 4051 hectares [13]. Many countries, such as South Korea, Iran, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and the European Union, have been importing LMOs including LM canola for food, feed, and processing but do not grow them [13]. Canola and five other species within the genus _Brassica_ have genetic relationships that can be described using U's triangle model. The three allotetraploid species, _B. juncea_ (AABB genome), _B. napus_ (AACC genome), and _B. carinata_ (BBCC genome), were derived from the hybridization of the following diploid species _B. rapa_ (AA genome), _B. nigra_ (BB genome), and _B. oleracea_ (CC genome). Interspecific hybrids between canola and plants of the same genus, such as _B. juncea_, _B. carinata_, _B. rapa_, _B.