Artificial selection of ginseng has been practiced since Hwangsook (with yellow pericarp and a green stalk, and was developed from a landrace parent) and Cheonggyeong (with red pericarp) were selected as breeding lines in 1926. Systematic research into ginseng breeding, however, started in earnest in the 1960s when the Central Research Institute of Monopoly and Technology (CRIMT) was established, and the Korean Ginseng Experiment Station was organized under the CRIMT. Research into variant characteristics, resource collections, and genetic evaluations began around this time. With the establishment of the Korean Ginseng Institute in the 1970s, studies involving pedigree selection, cataloguing of agricultural traits of genetic resources, generation shortening by tissue culture, and heritability assessments were conducted. In the 1980s, regional adaptation tests were carried out on breeding lines, focusing on ginseng-producing districts. In the 1990s, research was performed on seed multiplication for variety diffusion, effective components and processing quality, and cross breeding. Foreign ginsengs were introduced for interspecies hybridization, and studies were conducted using genetic engineering techniques. Since the 2000s, applications have been made to patent different ginseng cultivars. Currently, 32 cultivars are registered at the Korea Seed & Variety Service. Future goals for ginseng breeding include developing climate change- and disaster-resistant, consumer-oriented, high-performance cultivars. Therefore, it is necessary to develop technologies for distributing new cultivars by collecting and evaluating genetic resources, and cross breeding and performing mass propagation using these resources.

We investigated the effect of pre and post-cryopreservation treatment on the dehisced Ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer) seeds germination rate. All seeds covered with endocarp and 96.3% of them were opened, initial moisture content (IMC) and germination rate were 55.9% and 84.0%, respectively. According to the pre and post-cryopreservation methods, highest seeds germination rate (GR) was observed in non-precooled seeds which recovered at 40°C, in which MC was 8-12% and desiccated at 15°C. However, by prolonged drying the seeds GR comparatively decreased under MC of below 2.2%, reaching below rate 4% regardless of pre and post- cryo treatments, whereas the seeds dried at 25°C airflow cabinet saved significantly high rate. The effects of desiccation and of cryopreservation on the survival and developmental pattern of roots and stems showed that the earliest appearance of the root in control seeds was detected after 10 days of bedding in GA medium, and the stem started to develop later on the third week of germination test. And, on the 30th day of the investigation stem growth rate significantly increased and showed equivalent data with root rate. Almost the same pattern showed the seeds after cryopreservation, but it significantly delayed in the development compared to control, where term of the investigation continued till 40 day than control 30 day. Additionally, non-precooling seeds in both desiccation and recovery methods were showed high root and stem growth compared to precooled treatments.