Participants of "The Korean Water Society Seminar 2016" take apicture at Taean Literary Hall on June 20.

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Taean (Chungnam) AsiaToday reporter Park Sung-eun - The Korean Water Society held an academic seminar on utilization and industrialization of hydrogen at Literary Hall in Taean, Chungnam, on June 20.

The conference was conducted by the Korean Water Society, organized by Korea Hydrogen Health Association, and sponsored by Taean County.

Marking the 15th anniversary, this year's conference took place in Taean, where Korea's first-ever natural hydrogen water was found last year.

During the conference, The Korean Water Society President Lee Kyu-jae said, "I've been studying the water of Taean for the last 7-8 years. When I measured here last year, hydrogen was 300 parts-per-billion (ppb). The discovery of natural hydrogen water is very rare case in the world."

The water was found in natural bedrock water from the depth of 870 meters last year in Taean peninsula of Korea, catching the attention of the academic world.

Experts say that this region's water contains more hydrogen than world's top healing waters in Nordenau Germany (80 ppb of hydrogen), Tlacote Mexico (180 ppb), Nadana Village India (180 ppb), and Lourdes France (410 ppb).

President Lee said, "While drinking healthy water (functional, premium water) rather than safe water (tap water, purified water) has become a growing trend, hydrogen water has a powerful function of eliminating oxygen radicals and helps to slow down aging process."

Hydrogen water is known to suppress oxidative damage, which may aid in inhibiting age-related inflammatory reactions. Besides, it is known to aid in digestion and improve overly acidic conditions that most people today suffer from. The first research of hydrogen on human body began with Dr. Shirahata's active hydrogen theory in 1997, which proved the ability of drinking, inhaling, and taking a hydrogen bath.

Commercialized natural hydrogen waters instead of artificial hydrogen waters include Nordenau Springs in Germany, and Hita Tenryosui water in Japan. In Japan, the hydrogen water market makes up 10% of total drinking water market.

In Korea, AsiaToday launched premium water 'Haru 2.0'that contains natural hydrogen water from Taean, on March 22.