The Government of the Republic of Korea has been attempting to increase agricultural production through more rational use of fertilizers and by bringing wasteland into cultivation. Towards the achievement of this goal, the Government assisted by the UN Special Fund, established in 1963 a Soil Fertility Unit in the Soil Section of the Ministry of Agriculture in Suwon in order to supervise and co-ordinate the soil fertility survey work in the country as a whole and to provide information on soil fertility problems to farmers and fertilizer manufacturers. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is the Executing Agency.

An assistant soil chemist, foreground, weighing samples in the laboratory of the Soil Fertility Unit. In the background is another assistant soil chemist making an organic matter determination of the soil.