After 1945, the special cultivation area for red ginseng raw material (SCARG) in Gaeseong City and its surrounding regions were divided between South and North Korea. This division was solidified with the establishment of the armistice line in 1953 after the Korean War broke out in 1950, and the region suffered significant damage. The red ginseng stored in Gaeseong immediately after liberation was looted by the Soviet Army, while the stock in Seoul was seized by the North Korean Army during the Korean War. Consequently, South Korea’s red ginseng industry was forced to cease operations. In response, the Monopoly Bureau established a five-year plan in 1951 to start ginseng cultivation in Buyeo County. The employees of the Gaeseong Branch of the Monopoly Office who fled to Buyeo County recovered ginseng seeds buried in enemy territory along the Imjin River in February 1952 and established a nursery. In 1955, the Monopoly Office(MO) implemented a five-year strategy to increase raw red ginseng production, and in 1956, a red ginseng manufacturing plant was established in Buyeo County. And in the same year the Red Ginseng Monopoly Act was proclaimed. From 1955 to 1979, nine Ginseng Cultivation Associations (GCAs) were established nationwide, and by 1981, SCARGs were designated in 60 counties. The establishment of this infrastructure resulted in a 21-fold increase in raw red ginseng production, from 9.6 tons in 1961 to 204.9 tons in 1969. Subsequently, research institutions under the MO evolved into entities such as the Central Monopoly Technology Research Institute, the Korea(Goryeo) Ginseng Research Institute, and the Korea Ginseng and Tobacco Research Institute. The cultivation technology developed by these institutions was disseminated to the production regions. This advancement led to the procurement of 2,242 tons of raw red ginseng materials from contracted cultivation areas in 1987, an elevenfold increase compared to 1969. In 1996, the red ginseng monopoly system was abolished, and the privatized Korea Ginseng Corporation (KGC) took over the red ginseng business. By 2000, KGC increased contract deposits and advance payments to 60% and provided loans to contracted farmers in alignment with its mid- to long-term raw material procurement plans. Furthermore, through initiatives such as the development of new cultivation areas, the distribution of high-quality ginseng seedlings, and the provision of loans for agricultural machinery, KGC and the Ginseng Agricultural Cooperatives(formerly GCA) significantly increased the procurement of raw red ginseng materials. As a result, procurement reached 5,037 tons in 2006 and 7,167 tons in 2020.

Keywords: Cultivation support system of ginseng, Special cultivation area for red ginseng, Gaeseong branch of monopoly office, Korea Ginseng & Tobacco Research Institute, Ginseng Agricultural Cooperative