As both an innovator and one of the world’s largest grain importers, South Korea has a direct stake in how genome edited products are regulated at home and among its trading partners. South Korea imports most of its food and feed grains, including from producing countries where genome editing is under active development and use. Domestically, a growing community of Korean researchers, startups, and public breeding programs is applying genome editing to crops ranging from nutrient-enhanced tomatoes to virus-resistant vegetables. In order to foster continued discussion around this important development in agriculture and trade, on September 15-16, 2026 in Daejeon, South Korea, the Agriculture & Food Systems Institute (AFSI) convened the fifth workshop in its series on Gene Edited Plants: Context and Communication for Plant Breeding Innovation. The two-day workshop, “Enabling Regulatory Environment for Genome Editing in Agriculture in South Korea – Opportunities and Possibilities,” brought together scientists and experts from government, academia, the private sector, the Korea Biosafety Clearing House (KBCH), and the media for a science-based and transparent exchange on the regulation of genome edited agricultural products. Across four technical sessions, speakers from South Korea, the United States, Argentina, Australia, Viet Nam, and the European Union addressed trade and food security, research and development, social communication, and the global regulatory landscape. | 
