Study Says Potatoes Arrived in Korea Around 1774, Not 200 Years Ago
Creatrip Team
2 months ago
Professor Choi Kwang-sik argues in a recent academic paper that potatoes entered Korea around 1774, about 50 years earlier than the commonly cited date of c.1824. Earlier estimates relied on a record in the 19th-century compilation Ojuyeon Munjang Jonsango saying potatoes arrived in 1824, but Choi says that refers only to potatoes moving from Hamgyong to Hanyang (Seoul), not the first introduction to the peninsula. He highlights a 1774 poem by the official Shin Gwang-su that mentions a white, chewy noodle from Ganggye—an area unsuitable for wheat—interpreting it as noodle made from potato starch. Choi also questions recent claims that Kim Dong-in’s famous short story “Potato” actually meant sweet potato, defending that contemporary evidence (publication details, cover art, harvest season) supports the original reading as true potato and suggests the author may have later reframed the term due to its association with poverty.
