Climate change, an aging farm population, difficulties in recruiting farm workers, and escalating labor costs are major challenges facing today's domestic agriculture. On the positive side, Korea possesses world-class enabling technologies that are critical to building smart farms, including IT, semiconductors, LED and solar power. Drawing on its extensive experience as a traditional agricultural nation and the diverse regional characteristics shaped by mountainous terrain, Korean agriculture is adeptly turning challenges into opportunities by adopting smart farming practices. Translating experience and environmental characteristics into data has facilitated the development of scientific farming. Following the global success of K-Food, the expertise and facilities associated with smart farming in K-Food production are now reaching international markets. Dawon Agricultural Farming Association Corporation in North Jeolla Province grows ripe tomatoes hydroponically on its 17,000-square-meter farm. In 2019, they implemented a smart farm system with various sensors for temperature, humidity, CO2 solar radiation, wind direction, wind speed, and rainfall. The system includes controls for ventilation windows, shading, insulating curtains, and heating and cooling. It includes a nutrient solution dispenser, solution sensor, water content meter, drainage information meter and CCTV web camera. An integrated control system autonomously manages these components and monitors crop conditions. Precise control of the factors that determine tomato growth, such as temperature, humidity, light intensity and irrigation, has resulted in a remarkable increase in production from 16 kg to 42.4 kg per unit area. Sales per unit area also increased by 165% from KRW 22,830 to KRW 60,500. Since 2022, CJ Freshway has been using open-field smart farming technology. They collect data by growing high-demand crops such as garlic, onions, and potatoes with local farmers. They source and distribute all harvested produce to restaurant and catering customers. In 2019, Plan T Farm Co. Ltd. pioneered the world's first metro farm operation in five Seoul subway stations. They established a vertical smart farm specifically designed for the direct cultivation of medical cannabis, low-temperature shiitake mushrooms, ginseng sprouts, chives, and angelica root. In addition, starting with the installation of a container-type indoor vertical farm at Sejong Station in Antarctica in 2021, smart farms were exported to Kuwait and Mongolia in 2022 and to Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates in 2023. Smart farms can deliver nutrients or CO₂ at the right time and in the right amount, allowing for year-round growing. Ten to 20 years of climate data for the area where the greenhouse will be built can be considered in the design phase, taking into account elements such as snowfall and wind speed. Over time, the accumulation of data leads to more accurate and diverse insights. The closed nature of smart farms simplifies pest and disease prevention, minimizing the risk of germs or pests. Smart farms produce a variety of crops, including eggplant, banana, hallabong, ivy, shine musket, red hyang mandarin, grape, cherry tomato, cucumber, strawberry, paprika, tomato, and apple mango. Costs vary from tens of millions to billions of won, depending on the size and differences in interlocking equipment and facilities. In addition to the integration of robots and intelligent agricultural machinery, Korea's smart farms use intelligent agricultural practices by efficiently managing complex energy through material technology and new energy sources. This system meticulously analyzes and prescribes the growing environment and biometric information of crops in real time through a cloud artificial intelligence system. The Korean smart farm is a system in which a cloud artificial intelligence system analyzes and prescribes the growing environment and biometric information of crops in real time. Decisions are made by analyzing the growing environment and biometric data through real-time AI. Now, we are in an era where most tasks can be performed remotely through a smartphone from anywhere outside the agricultural field. The domestic smart farm market is expected to grow from USD 240 million in 2020 to USD 490 million in 2025.

In Korea, apples, pears, and persimmons are themost iconic fruits of the country. These fruitshave significant cultural significance, are centralto various traditional rituals and ceremoniesobserved throughout the year, and are deeplyrooted in the Korean cultural fabric. In addition, peaches,grapes, and tangerines are commonly eaten as dessertsand snacks in Korea. These six fruits are Korea's six majorfruits. It's a common practice for people to buy thesefruits in large quantities on a weekly basis and enjoy themas snacks throughout the week. In the past, obtainingand transporting fresh fruit in bulk was a challenge.Today, the convenience of texting, calling, or orderingonline has made it easier than ever to purchase fresh fruitanytime, anywhere. Sweetness and texture are priorities when it comesto fruit. Excessive rain or extreme heat can result inoversized or burst fruit due to excessive moisture. Awarm climate with significant temperature fluctuationsand a relatively high orchard elevation is essentialto produce the finest fruit. Products such asGolden Apple Eden Farming in Hamyang, Pear FarmingCooperative in Jinju, and Shaiwang AgriculturalCooperative Corporation in Sangju are known fortheir superior quality. These farms share an altitudeof about 5 meters, which ensures excellent wind circulationand remarkable temperature fluctuations.As for the fruit, the younger the tree, the better thetaste. Some farmers are willing to sacrifice yield toensure the highest quality fruit, opting to replace alltheir apple trees every four years. As for the apple crop, Fuji is expected to remainstable. However, Hongro, Sugaaru, Yangkwang andFuji apples are expected to decrease by 4-6%. Gamhongapples are estimated to increase by 7% overlast year, and the famous golden apples, known as SinanoGold, are expected to increase by a remarkable23%. For pears, Singo and Wonhwang are expectedto grow by 3% and 2% respectively, while Shinwha,Hwasan and Golden pear varieties are forecast togrow by 1-6%. Tangerines are projected to increaseby 6%, and Cheonhyehyang and Redhyang are expectedto increase by 3% and 2%, respectively. Forpeaches, Yumogye is expected to decline by 1% andCheondogyehae is expected to increase by 2%, mainlydue to new varieties such as Sinbi andYerodream.Grapes including Campbell Early, Kyohong and MBAare expected to decline by 2-9%. However, Delawaregrapes are expected to increase by 3%, and ShineMuscat, Rubyroman, Hongjoo Seedless, and other tablegrape varieties are projected to increase by 11%.For persimmon, Woonmi and Olnuri are projected to increase by 11%, while the main variety Buyu isprojected to decrease by 4%, and Charang and EarlySeochon are projected to decrease by 1% and 8%,respectively. Taechu is expected to increase by 5%. Korean fruit consumers have slightly different preferencesdepending on the type of fruit. For apples,they prefer medium-sized apples weighing 150-250gwith a rich red color and a balance of sweetness andtartness. For pears, they choose medium-sized pearsweighing 550-700g with an intense sweetness andabundant juice. For peaches, they prefer the 300gsize with a sweet and juicy texture. Consumers prefergrapes with high sugar content, thin skin and tinyseeds. Tangerines are preferred to have a harmoniousblend of sweetness and acidity and should generallyhave a deep color along with thin skins. For persimmons,medium-sized fruit weighing 250-280g with afirm, crunchy texture are highly prized. For pears inparticular, they prefer larger and well-shaped fruitsfor traditional rituals. For eating, however, they preferthe crisp texture and juiciness of the flesh, with theunique aroma of pears being especially appreciated.