Fill your faces with 400 varieties of flowers - thanks to Korea's floricultural industry! A display at Gwanghwamun Plaza will be on show in downtown Seoul on Oct. 30 on 31. 

Thanks to the efforts of the Rural Development Administration and other related local institutions, Korea has come to lodge a total of 416 patent applications so far for new flowers cultivated domestically. Korea only began to work on developing new flower kinds just a decade and a half ago in the early 1990s.

The new types of flower include spray chrysanthemum-kinds like “Charming Eye,” “Pink Pride” and “Innocence,” which have proven to be great hits overseas, with export of over one million as of October 2009. Cherry Blossom and “Forest Aroma” types, which came into existence in 2007, are also being prepared for their imminent debut in Japan.

This flower show, which stands between the statues of two great men of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) – King Sejong the Great and Admiral Yi Sun-shin– at Gwanghwamun Plaza, is being held to promote the superb quality of Korean flowers and receive feedback from passersby.

There will also be cactus show on the sidelines, allowing visitors to enjoy colorful samples of local cacti. These hardy plants make up some 70 to 80 percent of the floriculture trade around the world.

By Kim Hee-sung
Korea.net Staff Writer