Spring flowers in Korea blooming earlier than before

한국 봄꽃 예년보다 일찍 핀다 The weather is getting warmer， and it seems spring is finally upon us here in Korea. That means it′s the start of the flower season. Korea has a wide variety of beautiful flowers that bloom around this time every year， but they seem to be blossoming sooner than expected. Kwon Jang－ho tells us what we can look forward to. Spring is almost here. As the cold starts to lose its bite， people are venturing outside to enjoy the warmer weather. And although the trees still look bare， they are starting to show signs of life. ″Here at Yeouido Park in Seoul， the cherry blossoms are not quite ready to come out just yet， but in the next few weeks they will be in full bloom and showering the this road with pink petals.″ The fragrant flowers are expected to start appearing in the south of the country toward the end of the month， and the trend will work its way up to Seoul by the second week of April. Before then， other flowers marking the start of spring will be popping up down south. There are reports that yellow forsythia flowers are already visible in Korea′s southernmost island of Jeju， and the azaleas should start appearing a few days later. This year′s flowers are coming a few days earlier than usual， but because of global warming， that′s becoming a fairly more common occurrence. ″Because the temperature is rising every year， it′s causing blooming season to arrive earlier. Compared to the 1980s， it′s coming about five to seven days sooner now.″ That means events around the country celebrating the season sometimes have difficulty adjusting. The Jeju Cherry Blossom Festival is scheduled to start on April 1st， but it′s now likely to miss the height of the cherry blossom season， forecast to come four days earlier. Meanwhile， many other flower festivals are starting this week， with the Maewha festival in Gwangyang on Friday and the Gurye Sansuyu Festival on Saturday. And in Seoul， the Yeouido Spring Flower Festival is set to begin on April 1st. It′s one of the biggest events at this time of year， with visitor numbers expected to be in the millions. Kwon Jang－ho， Arirang News. Visit ‘Arirang News’ Official Pages Facebook(NEWS): http://www.facebook.com/newsarirang Homepage: http://www.arirang.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/arirangtv Twitter: http://twitter.com/arirangworld Instagram: http://instagram.com/arirangworld