HARVEST OF FRESH GREEN TEA

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Today Korea marks gogwoo, one of the 24 seasonal divisions in the lunar calendar, meaning a spring rain for seeding. Around this time of the year, the harvest of fresh green tea begins in Boseong-gun County, Jeollanam-do Province, which is known as the nation's largest green tea producer. Here are some scenes from the southern region.

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In Boseong, tea fields take on a rich green hue. Farmers are busy picking new green tea leaves with extra care. They soon collect a basketful of tea. This is fresh green tea called woojeon harvested around gogwoo, which is the sixth of the 24 seasonal divisions on the lunar calendar.

[Soundbite] Cho Hyun-gon(Boseong tea farmer) : "Those in light green with two young leaves across a stem are the softest and best in flavor."

Green tea is divided into five types, depending on the timing of their harvest. Among them, woojeon is the tea that is harvested first in the year, usually before gogwoo. Producing the premium tea is a manual process. Newly harvested leaves are repeatedly roasted in a cauldron at around 200 degrees Celsius. They are then rubbed carefully over and over. Woojeon tea is considered the finest in taste and flavor. This year's production is predicted to drop some 30 percent, due to cold weather conditions earlier this year.

[Soundbite] Kim Bok-soon(Volunteer) : "Green tea is said to be good for health. I hope people will stay in good health and the pandemic will be over soon."

Boseong County postponed the annual green tea festival to the fall amid the prolonged pandemic. But it sells green tea products in an online real-time broadcast on every last Saturday.

[Soundbite] Son Yeon-ji(Boseong-gun County Office) : "It is an online live commerce mall that sells Boseong green teas, probably, at the lowest prices in the nation. A 30% discount is offered on new teas."

Accounting for 40 percent of the nation's green tea production, Boseong will host a world tea expo this September.