The intriguing origin of rice cookers in Korea and lessons for
leadership
By Tandia T. Vernasius*
Two
days after cooking and my rice just tastes as good as on the first day! What
else could make cooking more simplified than a rice cooker? Interestingly, this domestic appliance that
has come to be associated with every household in Korea did not come about from
willful scientific invention but in response to the wrath and ultimatum of an
impatient leader!
The
story goes that in the early 1980’s, it had become common to see almost every
Korean returning from Japan via the Pusan seaport carrying along a peculiar
luggage – a phenomenon that had come to be regarded an integral part of the
return journey. Simple, it was a rice cooker called “Kokkiri” developed by
Japanese manufacturers that had come to gain popularity in Korea to the extent
that it was used as a measure of social status and wealth. Friends and family
members of visitors traveling to Japan often asked for one as a favor and in an
instance that more than one was brought (mostly by smuggling), the extra was easily
resold at a price as high as four times the original value!)
Korean
women revered and considered it one of the most valuable kitchen items as it considerably
helped reduce their manual labor. For a country that highly relies on rice as staple
food and with a variation of temperatures due to seasonal change, cooking and
preserving rice had become one of the major concerns of housewives.
In
their numbers, Japanese-made Kokkiris kept making their way to Korea until in
1983 when the authoritative incumbent President Chun Doo-hwan got sight of the new
trend. Deeply angered by such a desperate
reliance on Japanese manufacturers, he summoned his cabinet and vented out his
rage at them for being such cowards. “Can’t you produce a rice cooker like
Japan,” he is said to have asked in thunderous rage. In conclusion, he sternly
ordered that a rice cooker be produced in Korea within a period of six months; failure
to which there would be severe consequences. To confirm its success, he
declared that his wife (1st Lady) would have the first taste of the
rice cooked from it and if she expressed her total satisfaction, then would
anyone be spared.
Panic-stricken,
cabinet members set out to pressure Korean manufacturers who immediately embarked
on intensive research and experimentation - and within six months, Korea’s
first rice cooker “Cookoo” was produced!
 |
| modern rice cooker |
Dramatic
as it sounds, this could serve as an important lesson to developing countries
in terms of leadership role and national response. It took only the good
intentioned will of a leader to pressure for change and bring about something
valuable that had until then been seen as impossible. This is called benevolent
dictatorship!
Just
like a larger part of Korea’s development experience, a “can do spirit,”
coupled with hard work and timely commitment to results can always produce important
results, helping in cutting the heavy external-reliance that is characteristic of
most developing countries. With this, Korea can be sure to have one more
success story to tell when engaging other countries in development efforts.
*TV Tandia is a Koreabrand.net communicator
and can be contacted at tvtandia@gmail.com.
Author’s note: I would like to express special thanks to Mr. Yang Young-mo of the
Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly for contributing to this article.
