[2] There is a memorial museum in the port city of Busan, where he lived and worked in Korea, honoring his life and accomplishments.

[3] Woo was born on April 8, 1898, in Akasaka, Tokyo and raised in Kure, Hiroshima, he was the first son of a Japanese mother, Sakai Naka (사카이 나카, 酒井ナカ) and a Korean father, Woo Beom-seon (禹範善, 우범선) of the Danyang U clan (본관: 단양 우씨, 丹陽 禹氏).

[3] Woo Beom-seon served as the commander of the first battalion of the Hullyeondae (a Japanese-trained Korean military force)[4] during the late period of the Joseon dynasty and had sought political asylum in Japan.

[6][7][2] Meanwhile, Queen Min's son, Crown Prince Yi Cheok, accused Woo Beom-seon of complicity in the murders and he fled to Japan.

Food at the temple was limited to potatoes, and Woo was ostracized by other Japanese children for being part Korean, so he often stayed closed to monks and nuns.

[11] Meanwhile, the Empire of Japan had begun to challenge European colonial powers in East Asia, beginning with the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05), which led almost directly to the annexation of Korea in 1910.

To meet his financial needs, his mother sold all of their possessions, even his father's tomb, though a friend allowed the remains of Woo Beom-seon to be buried in another cemetery.

A talented math student, Woo sought to study engineering at Kyoto Imperial University, but at the suggestion of pro-Japanese Korean statesman Pak Yeong-hyo, he pursued agriculture at Tokyo Imperial University with a scholarship from the Japanese General-Government in Korea.

Then, Dr. Terao assigned Woo to study further on Petunia hybrida Vilm, which, among the different varieties of the species, could not be completely made into double flowers.

Further work by Woo brought the complete double flowered Petunia into reality in 1930, and this earned him international prestige in the scientific community.

His four years of research led to a successful interbreeding of Japanese and Korean crucifers, and another internationally renowned paper.

Woo's paper was that, evolution does not happen only through the accumulation of beneficial mutations that lead to speciation, but also through exchange of genes between different species.

Woo, however, had to stay in the Japan's Ministry of Agriculture's examination room because the Japanese policy, during the occupation of Korea, was to prevent Koreans from achieving high status.

When he was promoted, it was requested that he change his name; instead, Woo resigned from his position at the Konosu examination room.

[14] He was hired by the Takiyi research farm, where he improved on seed-production methods and agricultural food products through artificial selection.

While he concentrated on establishing a solid base for the resources needed for research, he wrote a paper on artificially combining gametophytes to improve the quality of the plants.

Around the end of the World War II, the Takiyi research farm ran a free educational program for students, and Dr.

Woo resigned from his positions at the Takiyi research farm and Tokyo University, and prepared his own place near a Buddhist temple.

[2] In accordance to a suggestion by Kim Jong-yi to resolve this problem, President Yi Seung-man sponsored a campaign to urge for Dr.

The team worked to gather money and resources, and established the "Hanguk Nong'eop Gwahak Yeonguso" (한국 농업 과학 연구소) or Korean Agricultural Science Research Institute near the city of Busan.

He therefore collected his papers which had traced his ancestral lineage from Korea, and went to a Japanese office which searched for illegal Korean inhabitants.

Woo Jang-choon's work resulted in improved seeds for many of Korea's staple crops, starting with Korean cabbage, the icicle radish, hot peppers, cucumbers, head cabbage, onions, tomatoes, watermelon, the yellow chamui melon.

Other major horticultural breakthroughs from Woo's research included germ-resistant seed potatoes, the seedless watermelon, and the Jeju variety of tangerine (제주감귤).

Woo dug a water well near his laboratory, and named it "Jayucheon" (자유천, short for 자애로운 어머니의 젖 같은 샘) or "The Well that is like the Milk of a Loving Mother".

Woo suggested sanitary culture, instead, because it was a much cheaper alternative with the same result; although a hydroponics facility was installed in Suwon, the outcome was poor.

But medical professor Kim Joong-hwa recommended Woo to take the medicine only when necessary, as it was not complete in its development, and negative side effects could be possible.

Woo's stomach and intestines began to worsen and, although the conditions were tolerable, he was admitted to the hospital after a medical examination.

Woo's wife, Koharu, had difficulties trying to visit Korea, but eventually succeeded in obtaining special permission from the Korean government.