Shinan-gun Purple Island, Dyed with Purple Roses

Shinan-gun and Gyeonggi-do Join Hands for Win-Win Cooperation on 'Deep Purple Rose'

Shinan-gun, Jeollanam-do (Governor Park Woo-ryang) announced on the 26th that it signed a win-win cooperation agreement with Gyeonggi-do (Governor Kim Dong-yeon) on the 22nd to utilize the purple rose ‘Deep Purple (Bora Rose)’.

This cooperation agreement follows the win-win collaboration between Jeollanam-do and Gyeonggi-do established last October. Since the Gyeonggi-do Agricultural Research and Extension Services holds the variety rights for the ‘Deep Purple Rose,’ it was proposed to Shinan-gun to use it for color tourism marketing on Purple Island, expecting positive mutual effects for both institutions, leading to the agreement.

Accordingly, Gyeonggi-do will support Shinan-gun with the supply of high-quality seedlings and cultivation technology for the ‘Deep Purple Rose,’ while Shinan-gun will establish a production base through regional adaptability testing, aiming to revitalize local tourism and foster floriculture farmers.

They are taking a commemorative photo with the officials after signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
[Photo by Sinan-gun]

The ‘Deep Purple Rose’ is a domestically developed variety by the Gyeonggi-do Agricultural Research and Extension Services in 2010. Unlike conventional roses, it has no thorns and features a striking two-tone flower color, receiving favorable responses from the flower market and consumers.

Since October, Shinan-gun has been conducting field tests on the adaptability of ‘Deep Purple Rose’ seedlings (soil conditions and winter hardiness) in open gardens on the island, and plans to create a rose garden on Purple Island depending on the suitability results.

Banwol and Bakji Islands in Shinan-gun, famous as Purple Island, were selected as the world’s best tourism villages by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in December 2021. Since then, about 400,000 tourists?approximately ten times the population of Shinan-gun, which is 40,000?have visited annually.

Furthermore, if a rose garden is established on Purple Island, it is expected to become an attractive item for color matching as a fantastic ‘Purple Rose Garden’ during the off-season of May to June, complementing the existing flower festivals of lavender (May), Lythrum salicaria (June to August), and aster (October).

Park Woo-ryang, Governor of Shinan-gun, stated, “Through this cooperation agreement, we will strive to develop various tourism resource products utilizing purple roses along with the creation of a rose garden on Purple Island.”

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