Japanese red pines growing along the Taebaek mountains have been called $quot;Kangsong$quot; and considered to be superior in growth and wood quality. An attempt was made to determine whether their boundaries for planting may be expanded by testing their early growth at eight experimental plantations of the Republic of Korea. Seeds were collected from the six different natural populations including Uljin in Kyongbuk province. For the provenance test, they were planted in eight different regions including Taean in the spring of 1987. Experimental planting was a randomized complete block design with 3 replications. Height growth was measured at the ages of 2, 4, and 6 after planting, and the diameter at root collar at the age of 6 after planting. Significant variation in height growth was observed among the plantations. The height growth measured at the age of 6 after planting showed a positive correlation with the latitude of the test plantation, and the contents of phosphate, potassium and calcium in the soil. A negative correlation, however, was observed between the longitude of the test plantation and height growth. Ponghwa provenance appeared to be the best among the provenances in that the trees from the area grew 16% better in volume growth than the average of all the trees tested in the study, while the worst one was Kyongju from which trees grew 11% less than the average.