The Uniqueness

6The Uniqueness of Hamyang’s Wild-Simulated Ginseng

Gitdaebong, Namdeogyusan Mountain in Hamyang (border between the ancient kingdoms of Silla and Baekje) was the largest ginseng production site during the Three Kingdoms Period.
It is said that Qin Shi Huang (259–210 BC), the first emperor of China sent a man named Seobok and an expedition team to Hamyang to search for the herb of eternal youth.

(Gyeongnam Institute, 2011)

78% of Hamyang-gun is mountainous land. Also, the entire land in Hamyang-gun contains germanium soil (The only place in the nation)
There are 15 mountains that are taller than 1,000m in Hamyang-gun. The high leaf mold content of Hamyang-gun’s land makes the region the perfect site for cultivating ginseng.
Clean lands higher than 500m must be used for cultivating ginseng in Hamyang by law.
Hamyang-gun introduced the first wild-simulated ginseng production tracking system (legalized model)
Hamyang-gun is the only place in the nation that carries out wild-simulated ginseng quality assurance activities.
Hamyang-gun is the only place in the nation to have established a department exclusively for management wild ginseng within the county office. (2003)
Hamyang-gun registered the first geographical indication trademark in the nation (Korean Intellectual Property Office, 2013)
Hamyang Jirisan Mountain designated as a Special Wild-Simulated Ginseng District (2015)
Wild ginseng festival held every September, 2021 Wild-Simulated Ginseng Expo

(148 Local Governments, As of 2017)

State of Wild-Simulated Ginseng Production
Category	Nation	Gyeongsangnam-do	Hamyang-gun	Note.
Area (ha)	10,105	913	556	No. 1 in the Nation
No. of Forest Houserholds	2,713	342	207	No. 1 in the Nation

As of August, 2019: 324 Forest Households (531 Farms), Cultivation Area: 733ha