The horticultural seed industry in Korea is small but has developed through rapid changes. During the Japanese colonial era, only small seedlings such as radish, cabbage, and Japanese and Chinese crop varieties were introduced. After liberation, horticultural breeding began with the establishment of the first Horticultural Research Institute and Dr. Woo Jang-chun’s activities. Seed companies grew rapidly due to the implementation of new seedling laws and the spread of the first hybrid variety. Through the IMF, multinational companies merged together and merged with domestic seed companies, and domestic seed companies expanded overseas, while there were active startups by professional breeders. Various breeding techniques were used to develop new varieties of vegetables. F₁ hybrid breeding produced hybrids using artificial crosses, self-incompatibility, and male sterility. Haploid breeding techniques using anther culture, microspore culture, and embryo culture were used for chinese cabbage, red pepper, and onion crops. Mutant breeding methods using a diploid breeding technique and mutation using translocation was used for seedless watermelon. New breeding hybrids were cultured through interspesific hybridization, and embryo culture and ovule culture techniques were used to breed interspesific hybrids. Male sterile varieties were raised through protoplast fusion. Recently, molecular markers have been used in all crops for early introduction and purity testing of major traits. In addition, transgenic and genome editing technology has been used to cultivate disease-resistant and physiologically resistant varieties.

In recent years, novel plant breeding techniques (NPBTs) have emerged, and safety assessment of the novel plant(s) generated using the NPBTs has drawn the attention of many stakeholders. The notable characteristics of the novel plants are as follows: firstly, it is almost impossible to distinguish from the natural mutations in the conventional counterparts, because site-directed nuclease (SDN) and oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis (ODM) could introduce short indel(s) in the targeted region(s) of the chromosomes. Secondly, the genome constitution of novel plants is almost identical to that of their conventional counterparts, eventually becoming indistinguishable by the introduction of only unmodified gene(s) from sexually compatible species to the target host plant. Thirdly, it is possible to generate new plants that have the desired traits, but without introducing genes. These plants will have some modified bases in their genome by selecting null-segregant(s) from heterozygous transgenic plants or by other epigenetic methods. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and many countries developing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have concluded that novel plants developed using SDN, ODM, cisgenesis, intragenesis, or null-segregant techniques are treated in the same manner as non-genetically modified (GM) plants or may even have less strict risk assessments depending on the case. Additionally, grafting and agro-infiltration are methods that can be used to avoid or reduce the burden of current strict GMO risk assessment. The risk assessments of some of the novel plants have already been performed and those of commercially important plants are expected to be performed in the near future. Hence, it is necessary to develop a competitive and practical NPBT that can mitigate the concern and revulsion toward GMOs in Korea.