The pre-air-drying of Korean pine before the high-temperature and low-humidity drying was shown to be effective in uniform moisture content distribution and prevention of surface check. Our results suggest that initial moisture content of the timber also plays important role in high-temperature and low-humidity drying method. The pre-air-drying also helps in the reduction of surface checks in Korean pine when compared to the Korean pine dried by only high-temperature and low-humidity. End-coating was not effective in the prevention of twist, shrinkage, case hardening and internal checks. The pre-air-drying reduces the internal tension stresses which occur during high-temperature and low-humidity drying thus decreasing case hardening and also preventing internal checks. The pre-air-drying decreases the moisture content and causes shrinkage which leads to increased twist in the Korean pine.