ChilliFacts

Chilli in Korea: why kimchi wasn’t always red

Korea's first clear written mention of chilli is in the 1614 Jibong yuseol, which says it came from Japan. Chilli appears in kimchi from the late 17th century and became standard there only in the 19th. Folk custom twisted red peppers into the straw geumjul rope hung over the gate when a son was born, against evil spirits.

Checked October 20, 2026 · How we source facts

Timeline

  1. 1614

    Yi Su-gwang's encyclopedia Jibong yuseol describes namman-cho ('southern barbarian pepper') as poisonous, brought from Japan and so also called waegaeja ('Japanese mustard'). [1]

  2. c. 1700 (Sallim gyeongje)

    Hong Man-seon's farm manual Sallim gyeongje describes how to cultivate chilli peppers. [2]

  3. Late 17th century

    Chilli shows up in kimchi-related writing, such as Yi Seo-u's collected works and a poem by Kim Chang-eop. [1]

  4. 18th century (1720s Somun saseol; 1766 Jeungbo sallim gyeongje)

    Recipes using chilli become more common. [1]

  5. 19th century

    Chilli in kimchi becomes widespread. Whole-cabbage kimchi appears clearly only in the late 19th century. [1]

  6. 2022

    The revised Encyclopedia of Korean Culture dates chilli's arrival in Korea to the early 17th century. [1]

Customs and words

  • Geumjul (taboo rope): when a boy was born, red peppers, charcoal and straw were twisted into the straw rope hung over the gate. For a girl it held charcoal, dried seaweed and pine branches. It usually came down after three weeks. Details varied by region. [3]
  • Warding off evil: the National Folk Museum of Korea says gochu is used 'to cleanse impurities and to chase away evil spirits' during illness or after a son's birth. [2]
  • Epidemics: three red peppers might be hung along with a sick person's shirt ribbons during a contagious disease outbreak. [2]
  • Gochugaru: gochu ('chilli pepper') + garu ('powder'), traditionally made from sun-dried red peppers (taeyangcho). [2]

Chilli and torture: what the records show

A popular claim says Korea used chilli as a punishment. We found no record of it in the Joseon era (1392–1897). The documented Joseon practice of pouring liquid into the nostrils used ash water, in private upper-class households, and the penal code later banned it [7].

Chilli water does appear in records of torture by Japanese gendarmes and police during colonial rule (1910–1945). Kim Sam-ung, then director of the Independence Hall of Korea, lists “pouring red-pepper-powder water through the nose and mouth” among the representative tortures used against Koreans [4]. A Seoul city article on the Seodaemun Prison History Hall describes the same practice [5].

It was used again under South Korea’s military governments. Journalist Noh Hyang-gi testified that in 1980 interrogators forced red pepper powder and water up his nose [6].

These were acts of torture against people in custody, not a food custom or a legal punishment.

Questions

When did chilli come to Korea?

By the early 17th century. The first clear written mention is in Yi Su-gwang’s Jibong yuseol of 1614, which says it came from Japan.

Was kimchi always spicy?

No. Chilli appears in kimchi from the late 17th century and became widespread only in the 19th century.

More chilli history

Sources

  1. Weekly Kyunghyang (2026), 'What we believed was tradition 4', reviewing Korean scholarship: Jibong yuseol 1614; Kwon Dae-young's native-origin theory not mainstream; no wild Capsicum in Korea; chilli in kimchi from late 17th c.; 1720s/1766 recipes; 19th-c. standardisation; 2022 Encyclopedia of Korean Culture dates arrival to early 17th c (secondary source)
  2. Wikipedia (citing National Folk Museum of Korea, Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture 'Gochu folk practices', folkency.nfm.go.kr/en/topic/detail/1746; Hong Man-seon, Sallim gyeongje): Sallim gyeongje cultivation; NFM quote on evil spirits and son's birth; geumjul; three peppers during epidemics; gochugaru etymology (secondary source)
  3. Ferenc Hopp Museum of Asiatic Arts, Budapest (collection catalogue): Boy: red peppers, charcoal, straw in geumjul; girl: charcoal, dry seaweed, pine branches; removed after three weeks (secondary source)
  4. Independence Hall of Korea (독립기념관) monthly magazine, April 2007, Kim Sam-ung, 'Unprecedented atrocities: Japanese imperial torture' (전대미문의 잔학한 일제의 고문만행): Red-pepper-powder water poured into nose and mouth listed as a representative Japanese colonial torture; 'haejeon' torture caption (secondary source)
  5. Seoul Metropolitan Government, 'Naesonane Seoul' Mediahub (citizen reporter Lee Seung-cheol, 27 Feb 2014): Water mixed with hot red-pepper powder poured into nose or mouth, in the context of Seodaemun Prison (secondary source)
  6. The Korea Times (Park Ung, 18 June 2025), 'Namyeong-dong: Where Korea's democracy was beaten, not broken': Noh Hyang-gi testimony: red pepper powder and water forced up the nose (1980 case) (secondary source)
  7. Gwangju News, 'The Penal Code in the Joseon Dynasty: Harsh Punishments': Joseon nasal torture used ash water, in private households, later prohibited; no chilli mentioned (secondary source)