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Graduation ceremonies for elementary, middle and high schools are in full swing these days. The atmosphere is not the same as before because of the corona, but the desire to give you a bouquet of flowers will not change. By the way, bouquets are expensive these days. I think the price was raised ahead of the graduation ceremony, but there is another reason.



Reporter Im Tae-woo reports.



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A family is standing with a bouquet of flowers outside the school where the graduation ceremony is held.



When I asked how much they bought it, they said that a small bouquet was 30,000 won and a more colorful one was 50,000 won, and he said that he was surprised because it was so expensive.



[Park Seung-soon / Gangbuk-gu, Seoul: When I usually live here, it was about 30,000 won and 25,000 won. But it seems a bit expensive, if this is 40,000 won.]



Since the beginning of the elementary, middle and high school graduation ceremony last month, the price of flowers has been changing to the highest price every day.



The average wholesale price for a bundle of ten roses is 22,000 won, three times higher than 7,200 won a year ago.



Chrysanthemums and freesias also became three times more expensive.



Protests are pouring in about raising the price of flowers because it is graduation season, and the merchants are also unfair.



[Flower Merchant: What can I do now with 30,000 won? Right now, one rose is about 5,000 won, so now three roses are 15,000 won, right? It means that the unit price is not right at all.]



The reason flower prices have risen is that the price of oil used for heating has risen, and as the number of foreign workers has decreased, more and more farmers have given up growing flowers.



Income also declined significantly.



[Yangjae Dong Flower Market Official: The plane itself is not flying and not flying even because of Omicron right now, isn't it?

Almost all Chinese, Colombian and Ethiopian products are leading, but they are not coming in.]



The high price of flowers is expected to continue until next month, when the university graduation ceremony is held.