▲ Hyundae Rose / CEO Kim Sung-lae

Flower market is one of the hardest hits by the virus invasion. Ceremonies for graduation, matriculation, birthday and wedding are being canceled one after another and the price of flower has dropped sharply. But the survivers in business have always found ways and breakthroughed challenges not matter how hard it is. And one of the survivers, and rather flourishing one, is Hyundae Rose. 

Rose means love and affection. It has been the flower to a beloved woman from a man and some say it is the queen of the flower. Earlier summer every year, rose emits deep fragrance to enchant hearts of man and woman filled with love and cherish. 

North Africans cherished rose from B.C. 3,000 and Persians grew the flower for fragrance. Greeks and Romans used it for decoration and it was quite recently that people started to use for gardening. A record shows that Korea brought this then exotic flower in 1918.

"Roses we see today are mostly hybrid. The British Monarchy started crossbreeding in the 18th century in want of decorating garden more beautiful. There are around 25,000 kinds of rose in the world and some hybrids are even without the thorns. One of results is that we can see or buy roses throughout the year" explains Kim.

Kim is received as one of the pioneers of promoting rose industry in South Korea. He has twenty six years of experience in the field and is running a total of 132,231 square meter cultivation rooms in Goyang and Siheung. Hyundae Rose in fact is the largest rose provider in South Korea from around 50,000 rose trees output a year. Among around 600 kinds of the rose, 160 have been registered to the Public Procurement Service.

"It is crucial for roses to have about four hours of the sun a day. Also important are the good and right soil and on-time fertilization and drain. In addition, 9~12 roses per square meter are ideal to flourish."

Hyundae Rose has signed the sales agent contract with Danish Poulsen, Dutch Seuren and British Plier for better breed and marketing. Rose breeding normally takes 6~8 years and research and development affects hugely on new breed and its quality.

"South Korea is behind in rose breeding and still depends on import when it comes to quality breeds. Luckily, this made me set up a goal for Korean-made and I'm determined to make it happen."