A substantial number of tropical fruits sold in South Korean markets are now grown locally. Guavas are produced in the southern port city of Busan while dragon fruit has become a specialty of Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province.
Pineapples and tangerines are grown in Gyeonggi Province, which neighbors the capital. There are even coffee farms in Gwangju in the same province.
South Gyeongsang Province, long the main producer of apples in South Korea, has turned over part of that claim to cooler Gangwon Province.
In the 1970s, only July had days that hovered over 33 degrees Celsius. After extending to August and September, heat waves have spread to June since the 2000s.
The problem is that global warming is happening at a faster rate in South Korea than the global average. Experts warn that at this rate, the southern half of the Korean Peninsula will completely turn into a subtropical region by the year 2020.
