Korean starry flounder, Platichthys stellatus (Pleuronectidae), is one of the most economically important fishery resources in Korea. We investigated the effect of current artificial reproduction in a hatchery facility, genetic divergence between the broodstock and their offspring populations of starry flounder in a hatchery strain to be stocked into natural sea areas was accessed using 9 polymorphic nuclear microsatellite DNA loci. High levels of polymorphism were observed between the 2 populations. A total of 96 alleles were detected at the loci, with some alleles being unique in the broodstock. Allelic variability ranged from 8 to 17 in the broodstock and from 7 to 12 in the offspring population. Average observed and expected heterozygosities were estimated at 0.565 and 0.741 in the broodstock samples and 0.629 and 0.698 in the offspring population, respectively