Yong-Shik Kim holds both a master’s degree and a doctorate in forestry from the Seoul National University, and has been teaching plant ecology at the Faculty of Natural Resources, Yeungnam University since 1983. Dr Kim studied the ex situ management of threatened plant species at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the University of Reading. He works for plant conservation in Korea in collaboration with SSC and Botanic Garden Conservation International, as well as on the management of botanical gardens and arboreta in Korea.

The Korean Plant Specialist Group has wide experience in networking and collaborating or recruiting within the country, as it was formed by members from various governmental and nongovernmental institutions within Korea.

“Over the next four years, we will continue to focus on Red List assessments for Korean plants and aim to finish the evaluation in this intersessional period. The Group will also document areas of important plant diversity as well as prepare recovery plans for threatened plant species. This work will be carried out with close collaboration with the Korea National Arboretum,” explains Dr Kim.