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[WHY] Flat, frustrating and now famous: The history of Korea's metal chopsticks

Published: 14 Feb. 2026, 07:00

LEE JIAN
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Stainless steel chopsticks used in Korea [GETTY IMAGE BANK]

Those familiar with various types of East Asian food will have noticed chopsticks change with the menu: plastic for orange chicken and chow mein, wood for sushi, and metal for bulgogi and japchae (stir-fried glass noodles).

Chopsticks have been a mainstay of East Asian cuisine for centuries. Yet differing histories and traditions have shaped the utensil in distinct ways, reflecting each culture’s culinary practices.

Flat, slender and often slippery, Korea’s stainless steel chopsticks are neither the easiest to use nor the cheapest option compared to their counterparts from other regions. But the country has remained committed to them for decades, using metal chopsticks in both homes and restaurants even today. Which raises the question: Why do Koreans use steel chopsticks?

First, a bit of history

The oldest reported metal chopsticks in Korea, made of bronze, excavated from the Tomb of King Muryeong, a Baekje period (r. 234-678) ruler who led from 501 to 523 [NATIONAL MUSEUM OF KOREA]

Mankind’s first chopsticks are largely known to be long, thin sticks made of animal bones excavated from a Neolithic site in Jiangsu Province, China, estimated to have been made between 6,600 and 5,500 BCE, according to “Chopsticks: A Cultural and Culinary History” (2017) by Edward Wang.

Chopsticks made of metal are also known to have originated in China, in the form of bronze, dating back about 3,500 years, discovered at the Shang Dynasty site.

In Korea, the oldest reported metal chopsticks were also made of bronze, two pairs excavated from the Tomb of King Muryeong, a Baekje period (r. 234-678) ruler who led from 501 to 523.

They each measured 21.2 centimeters (8.3 inches) and 19.6 centimeters in length, flat in shape, with rings attached to the gripping ends, allowing a chain to be fastened to connect the pair of sticks.

The modern use of metal chopsticks in Korea, however, is more closely tied to their role during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) and the class divisions introduced under Neo-Confucianism.

During the early and mid Joseon period, chopsticks — unlike spoons — were used almost exclusively by royals and the upper classes, according to the Korean History Society, as the chopsticks were for foods that could be gripped. Commoners, whose diet largely consisted of sole dishes like gukbap (rice and soup), ate with spoons or their hands.

Silver spoon and chopsticks used to test for toxins in the palace during the Joseon Dynasty [SEOUL K-MEDI CENTER]

In the palace, however, wood, copper, brass, bronze and silver chopsticks were all used, either by cooks transporting food, by the royals themselves as they ate or by those performing rites, known as jesa, according to professor Koo Hye-in, behind the research paper, “Types and uses of spoons and chopsticks for royal rituals in the Joseon Dynasty” (2022).

Shapes varied, from sticks that were flat throughout to rounder or more angled types. Silver chopsticks with a round tip, in particular, were favored by royals for their supposed ability to detect poison. The belief is only partially true, though, as the precious metal reacts to only certain toxic substances.

Metal chopsticks became more widespread among the general public during the latter period of the Joseon Dynasty, with the dissolution of the rigid Confucian class system, and everyday diets grew more varied and side dishes, including kimchi, became an integral part of meals.

"Lunch" (1970) by Kim Hong-do [NATIONAL MUSEUM OF KOREA]

Food history scholars generally locate the formation of Korean cuisine in the late Joseon period, citing both the development of kimchi and the mixing of food cultures across social classes. According to Jeong Ui-do, researcher at the Korea Archeology and Art History Institute, the early Joseon period's strict social hierarchies kept royal, elite and commoner food practices separate. After the Imjin War (1592), however, social boundaries loosened, leading to shifts in food culture as court cuisine influenced elite diets, which in turn shaped those of commoners. This period also saw an influx of foreign ingredients. "The proliferation of cookbooks from the mid-17th century onward reflects this rapid expansion of ingredients and cooking methods, signaling the emergence of a richly varied food culture and in turn, wider use of chopsticks," he said.

This shift is also documented in paintings depicting daily life during the period. An 18th-century work titled “Lunch” by Kim Hong-do, for instance, shows laborers sharing a midday meal using both spoons and chopsticks.

Chopsticks in the industrial age

Braised beef and various side dishes are pictured with a pair of metal chopsticks [GETTY IMAGE BANK]

Today’s omnipresent flat, stainless steel chopsticks emerged in the 1960s, coinciding with Korea’s post–Korean War industrialization, when steelmaking technologies were introduced and stainless steel began to be produced domestically.

The chopsticks were further commercialized by the former Park Chung-hee administration — an authoritarian military-backed regime from 1961 to 1979 — which banned disposable wooden chopsticks that were primarily used in restaurants back then — as part of its environmental policy.

Lee Byoung-sik, CEO of the Korean stainless steel cutlery brand Kostick, says that the current flat form, instead of round or square, became mainstream because it was easiest to mass-produce.

“Flat chopsticks made by cutting sheet metal were the most efficient option for mass production,” he told the Korea JoongAng Daily in an email interview.

“As this aligned with Korea’s post-1970s industrial environment, which prioritized speed, scale and efficiency in production and distribution, flat stainless steel chopsticks came to be regarded as the standard, with a diversity in shape taking a back seat to manufacturability.”

So why does Korea still use them today?

A man poses while holding a bean with metal chopsticks [GETTY IMAGE BANK]

Though some 1.5 billion people continue to use chopsticks today, the shapes and forms of the utensils differ to match the types of food people eat.

In China, for instance, the long, thick and square-shaped chopsticks made of plastic are suitable for picking up large pieces of food from shared plates that may be far away. Japanese chopsticks are shorter because food is served individually, and taper more sharply toward the tip, which makes it easier to debone the mealtime staple of grilled fish.

Korea continues to prefer metal chopsticks because of a food culture in which side dishes, or banchan, rather than rice alone, are ever-present at each meal, according to Lee.

"Korean cuisine places a strong emphasis on a wide variety of banchan, and meals often involve delicately picking up foods with diverse textures and forms, such as seasoned vegetables, fermented seafoods and steamed dishes."

A standard meal in Korea is comprised of a bowl of rice and soup, accompanied by various banchan ranging anywhere from one to a dozen or more.

"In this context, metal chopsticks — durable and capable of precise handling — would have been a more practical choice than wooden or plastic chopsticks, which wear down or deform more easily," Lee said.

"Metal chopsticks can thus be seen not merely as a matter of material, but as a tool that naturally took root in response to Korean ways of eating.”

BY LEE JIAN. [[email protected]]