Hadong has begun its annual wild tea leaf harvest on the slopes of Jirisan, launching what local officials describe as the most important season of the year for Korea’s best-known traditional tea producing region.

The spring harvest coincides with a broader effort to expand Hadong’s tea industry beyond farming by linking production with tourism, cultural experiences, and consumer outreach through the upcoming Hadong Wild Tea Culture Festival and the recently opened Hadong Tea Culture Center in Gwangalli.

Hadong’s wild tea is known for being hand-picked and traditionally pan-roasted from naturally grown leaves cultivated without heavy artificial intervention. Among the most prized seasonal harvests are early spring ujeon and sej ak teas, valued for their soft aroma and rich savory flavor.

Alongside its traditional loose-leaf tea market, Hadong is also seeing growth in matcha production, with powdered green tea increasingly used in beverages, desserts, and bakery products.

Local export efforts have widened in recent years, with Hadong tea products now reaching markets in the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, and Spain as demand for premium Asian tea continues to rise.

To further connect tea with tourism, the Hadong Wild Tea Culture Festival is currently running through May 5 and will offer visitors tea field walks, roasting demonstrations, tea ceremony performances, and large public tastings designed to introduce the region’s tea heritage in a more hands-on format.

Officials are also hoping the new tea culture center in Busan will help expose urban consumers to Hadong tea year-round, creating a stronger bridge between rural production, city-based consumption, and tea-focused travel to the county itself.

The strategy signals Hadong’s larger goal of turning its centuries-old tea tradition into a broader lifestyle and export industry rather than relying solely on raw leaf sales.

Fleet Chinhae

USAG Daegu