Chamoe, a specialty of Seongju in North Gyeongsang Province, is also being exported to Australia. Originally, chamoe was prone to spoilage, making exports difficult. Seongju chamoe has adopted modified-atmosphere packaging (MA), which suppresses respiration to prevent quality deterioration, and CA container technology, which controls gas concentrations inside containers, enabling long-distance exports. Export destinations have expanded to 15 countries, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam, and Australia. As a result, Seongju chamoe production rose to 692.7 billion won in 2024 from 385.6 billion won in 2020, up 1.8 times in four years. The introduction of hydroponic cultivation, which can ease labor shortages caused by rural aging, also had an effect.
On the 17th, the Rural Development Administration announced the results of the "1st comprehensive plan for research and development and promotion of regionally specialized crops," which included these details. With the push for the comprehensive plan, the nationwide production value of regionally specialized crops increased to 10.6 trillion won (as of 2024) from 7.8 trillion won in 2020 between 2021 and 2025. To that end, the Rural Development Administration said it supported variety development and advanced cultivation technologies, pest and disease response, and export technology development. Grapes in North Chungcheong Province, corn in Gangwon Province, jujubes in North Chungcheong Province, and ginseng in South Chungcheong Province were selected for promotion.
The Rural Development Administration plans to push a second comprehensive plan going forward. A region-led promotion system, on-site smart farming, linkage with processing and exports, and expansion of the research base are the main elements. To this end, the agency decided to increase this year's budget for regionally specialized crops to 16.8 billion won from 9 billion won.