Have you ever heard of Kwan-um pine tree?
It is a pine tree growing in Kangwan province. It was designated as Korea's national treasure number 349. Its name comes from a sad story.


Kwan means seeing, UM is listening in Chinese character. King Danjong of misfortune in the Chosun Dynasty used to tell the pine tree his sad stories when he was exiled to the island. However, the precious pine tree is in danger of losing its beautiful figure because it got struck by a natural disaster and insects.


The Korea Forest Research Institute(KFRI) is working hard to preserve it by extracting its DNA genes and keep it forever. With its DNA genes, it can be cloned later.
Let's hope that the Kwan-um pine tree stays there forever!