National Institute of Forest Science confirms mid-January blooming, a month earlier than last year Seboksocho, known as the ‘harbinger of spring’, bloomed on Hallasan in Jeju a month earlier than last year. The National Institute of Forest Science of the Korea Forest Service announced on the 15th that on the 12th it confirmed the first seboksocho bloom of the year at a natural habitat around 500 meters above sea level in the Hallasan area of Jeju.