President Moon plants commemorative tree at National Arboretum... Plants Geumgang Pine like DJ's next to 'Roh Moo-hyun Tree'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] On the 22nd, President Moon Jae-in commemorated Arbor Day by planting a Geumgang Pine at the National Arboretum.

President Moon and his wife planted a 25-year-old Geumgang Pine, 3.6 meters tall, at the National Arboretum located in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, in the afternoon. After receiving and putting on white gloves from the Korea Forest Service staff, they filled the soil about 20 times and compacted the ground.

The Geumgang Pine planted this time was brought from the Geumgang Pine cluster in Uljin. Choi Byung-am, head of the Korea Forest Service who accompanied the planting, said, "These are successor trees from the Uljin Geumgang Pine cluster that was protected from the recent forest fire, dug up from there." When President Moon asked, "Did the Korea Forest Service feel a lot of tension because of the forest fire?" Choi replied, "The staff who were at the site putting out the fire really risked their lives."

After the commemorative planting, President Moon and his wife took photos with Choi and two others, then had a conversation. President Moon asked, "This (Geumgang Pine) is 25 years old, right?" Choi explained, "We have been continuously growing the successor trees there for one or two years. We brought a tree about 25 years old."

The Geumgang Pine planted by President Moon was planted to the left of the yew tree planted by former President Roh Moo-hyun. President Moon suggested to Mrs. Kim, "Let's take a look at the yew tree," and recalled an anecdote from former President Roh's planting, saying, "The tree that President Roh originally wanted to plant was a zelkova tree, but since the zelkova spreads widely, it requires a lot of space, so he chose according to the space."

Choi also suggested they take a look at the Geumgang Pine planted by former President Kim Dae-jung. President Moon and his wife stood in front of the tree planted by former President Kim on Arbor Day, April 5, 2002, and listened to Choi's explanation about the tree.

President Moon said, "When it grows a bit, it will form a pair. Trees are better when they form pairs." Mrs. Kim laughed and asked, "When will it grow?" and President Moon also laughed and replied, "In about 30 years." After finishing the planting, President Moon and his wife explored the walking trail and took group photos with visitors.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.