HARVESTING FRESH GREEN TEA LEAVES

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Yesterday marked gogwoo, which is one of the 24 seasonal divisions on the lunar calendar and means a spring rain for seeding. Called woojeon, new green tea harvested around gogwoo is graded as the finest in taste and quality. Next, we will bring you some scenes of green tea harvest that is now in full swing in the southern region.

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​Hadong, Gyeongsangnam-do Province. Fields of wild green tea stretch across a side of Jirisan Mountain. Farmers are busy picking tea leaves.

[Soundbite] CHO SOON-JA(GREEN TEA FARMER) : "It's April but there's little progress in tea harvest. Two cans of tea are produced if we pick one kilogram of leaves a day."

New tea is harvested in Hadong around this time of the year, called gogwoo. Hadong wild woojeon tea is considered the finest in taste and flavor. It's a premium item with only a limited amount produced. Selecting quality green tea leaves is a manual process. Newly harvested tea is repeatedly roasted in a cauldron at over 300 degrees Celsius. This traditional farming method was recognized by the the Food and Agriculture Organization as a globally important agricultural heritage system.

[Soundbite] KIM SHIN-HO(GREEN TEA FARMER) : "Climate conditions and soil near Jirisan Mountain are perfect for farming green tea. Hadong green tea maintains its great reputation thanks to various conditions suitable for producing quality tea, as well as advanced farming techniques."

Spring shower makes the scene of tea harvest even more picturesque. There's low yield this year mainly because of the cold weather. But the quality remains unchanged. The Hadong-gun County office postponed this year's wild tea festival from early next month to the second half of the year due to the COVID-19 outbreak.