Abstract

This is the study of kitchen of Korea with the historical approach. The kitchen in the Korean house has transformed to a considerable extent during the last century. The traditional kitchen in Korea was thought to be inconvenient so that many of the elites during the colonial rule could call for its innovation. They tended to model after the Western style kitchen. One of the characteristic features of the Western kitchen was its convenient work systems including its use in a standing way, not a sitting way. In addition, the western kitchen was looked as the scientific and hygienic. They campaigned the modernization of kitchen through the restructuring of its whole layout. Since then, the modernization of kitchen has been one of the crucial issues in the contemporary history of Korean house. Since the 1970s, the construction of apartment has boomed and made it possible for middle class families to come closer to the western style of life. In kitchen, refrigerator, gas range and microwave oven, toaster, and coffee machine were placed. The most hi-tech kitchen utilities have been quickly introduced to the middle class families in Korea during the past three decades. However, the way directing to the so-called western style in Korea has not been necessary the same as what it supposed to be. Besides those initially presumed, Korean life styles of its own added some unique elements to the formation of Korean contemporary kitchens. Included in those are food, family structures, and tastes. Some Cultural sophistication of its own are added to Korean kitchens of todays.