We investigated genetic diversity among and within the populations of cultivated ginseng (Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer ) using SRAP profiles. A total of 24 ginseng plants were sampled from the three populations (two from China, one from Korea). Since all these populations are previously shown closely related to each other assister groups, we used Panax quinquefolium L. and wild ginseng as a reference species, which is not "within the sister group". All individuals from the three populations were screened with a total of 36 primer pairs with 26 primers generated from 328 SRAP bands of DNA gels. The mean gene diversity (HE) was estimated to be 0.057 within populations (range 0.032-0.067), and 0.086 at the species level. The genetic differentiation (Gst=0.31) indicates that genetic variation apportioned 30% among populations and 70% within populations. Generally, the result of this study indicates that ginseng contains high molecular variation in its populations.