Prof. Ahn Dae-hoe, Sungkyunkwan University(SKKU) Department of Korean Literature in Classical Chinese, gave an interesting interview on the history of tobacco with the Korean Broadcasting System(KBS).
The difficulties in quitting smoking is well known but do you know when tobacco was first introduced to Korea? It is known that tobacco came to Korea 400 years ago during the Joseon Dynasty. However, even people then knew that smoking was not good for your health, and campaigned against smoking.
Records show that a Japanese monk who guided the invading army from Japan named Kenzo was the one who first introduced it through trade at around 1610 after the war of 1592 ended. Tobacco became very popular through it being sold as a cure for removing phlegm by the Japanese traders. King Jeongjo who enjoyed smoking grew tobacco in the palace. Records can be found of the era that the King wanted ways to propagate it amongst the people and used it as a question in a examination for his courtiers. While this was in-part an instruction to his courtiers, the courtiers refused it by not showing up to work to take the exam.
There were also records warning the maleficent nature of smoking saying “It brought about difficult pregnancies and induced miscarriages” the 17th century record goes on to say “while smoking was considered a remedy it proved to be harmful in some cases and should be avoided.”
Prof. Ahn Dae-hoe in an interview with KBS
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