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Although the history of vegetable breeding in Korea is relatively short, less than 30 years of cross breeding, numerous excellent F₁ cultivars of several vegetable crops, mainly Chinese cabbage, radish and hot pepper, were developed by a few competitive private seed companies and widely crown by farmers. Breeding for fruit trees and ornamental crops has focused on introduction of foreign cultivars and adaptation trials of these genetic materials. Vegetable breederss, both private and governmental, have emphasized the enhancement of yield, disease resistance, seasonal adaptability and uniformity. Genetic improvement of vegetable quality has been somewhat neglected mainly due to lack of sophisticate and conscious consumers´ demand, and due to no mechanization and primitive vegetable processing industry. However, demand for better quality of horticultural crops is getting strong in Korea because of improvement of income and living standard.
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