Story by DANNY SEO ✷ Photographs by JONAS JUNGBLUT

As a child in Pennsylvania, I grew up with ginseng in my Korean household. Ginseng was sent from my relatives in South Korea. It was always elaborately packaged, as if it were something only for royalty. I’d see them spoon thick brown syrup into piping hot water to make a tea. I never wanted anything to do with it because to my young mind it was medicine and, frankly, only something strange old Asian people drank.

It wasn’t until I was at a trade show outside New York City (where a variety of brands were showcasing new products to members of the media like me,) that I met up with the Korea Ginseng Corporation. I thought, Oh, this is the gooey stuff my parents consumed. I was starting to think of a polite way to get out of trying anything at the booth.

But before I knew it a PR rep handed me two small packets. One had the word “Energy” on it; the other was stamped with the word “Immunity.” I was told to tear off the top and squeeze the sweet concoctions into my mouth to feel alive and boost my immunity. 

Doubtful, I followed the instructions. But minutes later, with crystal clear mental clarity and energy levels I haven’t felt in years, I knew pretty quickly that I was hooked. 

At first, I was convinced the packets were loaded with caffeine, so I read the ingredients lists and was surprised they contained just a few simple ones: “Energy” contained ginseng extract with honey and “Immunity” had the ginseng along with elderberry extract. These powerful ginseng extracts did wonders for me immediately. That first taste snowballed into a mission: I needed to go to Korea and do a story about this for the readers of Naturally.    

Off to Korea I went. As guests of the Korea Ginseng Corporation, our team was promised a behind-the-scenes tour that would take us from harvest to factory to lab to finished product. It would be a masterclass in Korean ginseng and, unlike young me, I was all about it. 

After a 14-hour flight and a night in Seoul, we trekked two hours outside the city to one of the original manufacturing plants. Tours like this are rarely given and I was honored with the opportunity. I observed where fresh harvested ginseng is carefully washed, sorted, steamed, and naturally dried to become what the Korea Ginseng Corporation is famous for: Red Ginseng.

The dried root has been the subject of decades of research by the company, and their century-old method has proven to transform fresh ginseng into a superfood. Red Ginseng has the highest levels of something called “saponin,” which is basically a naturally occurring compound that has numerous health-promoting attributes. 

And these attributes are numerous. Studies have shown that Red Ginseng helps with liver and brain function, supports memory function, boosts immunity, helps with blood circulation, and gives energy levels a boost by helping with fatigue recovery. Even the non-saponins in ginseng have been shown to reduce cholesterol levels. Is there anything ginseng doesn’t do? 

At the factory, fresh ginseng from the farm is washed clean and sorted by quality—only the best specimens make it into their high-end Red Ginseng extracts. It then goes through a highly-protected, proprietary steaming process. Once steamed, it’s air-dried on the roof of the factory in a well-protected glass greenhouse where the light and temperature are constantly adjusted.

While the methods may have been modernized over the years, Korea Ginseng Corporation has been doing this since 1899—and you can tell their process has been perfected. But even the less-than-perfect ginseng doesn’t go to waste; it gets made into a variety of products including skincare (more on that later), teas, and chews. 

Farming ginseng requires patience. We were fortunate to be there when it paid off for one lucky farmer. Turns out, it takes two years to prep the soil before planting ginseng and another six years for it to grow from seed to finished root. Even after harvest, farmers often must wait years for the soil to regenerate before they can grow ginseng again. So why wait nearly a decade before you actually see the financial benefits of growing a crop? Because this crop is the closest you’ll get to digging something that is worth its weight (almost) in gold. 

Partnerships with farmers are the most important relationships for this company. After a farm partner is selected, it becomes a tight relationship with an obsessive-compulsive goal of purity and quality. The company conducts nearly 300 tests on the soil throughout the eight-year growth cycle, which means at any time a farm must “pass” or—devastatingly—“fail.” Farmers are obsessive as well, creating protective barriers of hand-thatched straw mulch around every plant to shield them from the elements. The carefully tended soil is as fluffy and rich as cocoa powder.

In the field, we learned that just a few acres of land will be harvested. Every root is hand-collected, quickly sorted, placed in zip-tied locked bins, and immediately whisked away. In just a few hours, nearly a million dollars worth of ginseng is harvested. It’s so valuable there are guards keeping watch to make sure not a single root gets pilfered by anyone, including the Naturally team.     

It’s time to journey to our final location—labs that do everything from testing soil and plants to researching Red Ginseng’s benefits to studying innovations that will help develop new products and delivery methods for this superfood.

The company modernizes ginseng consumption by determining ways to add it to everyday consumer foods, chews, and supplements. Through the process, their researchers also discovered an unusual benefit of ginseng when applied topically: It’s an incredible skincare product. 

The story began when workers who oversaw the steaming process (where fresh ginseng is steamed before being dried into Red Ginseng) saw their skins’ fine lines and wrinkles disappear. The ginseng-infused steam was delivering skincare benefits. Soon, other workers and researchers noticed. 

This led the Korea Ginseng Corporation to create of a skincare line called Donginbi. Ginseng oil is pressed out of six-year-old roots where only a single drop is extracted, making the Donginbi Signature Facial Oil one of the most expensive skincare products in Korea.

Other products include mists and serums that deliver the same benefits those workers on the ginseng steam line experience when exposed to Red Ginseng. It’s apparently the ultimate antioxidant product, warding off those dreaded aging free radicals. Backed by hundreds of safety tests, clinical trials, and studies, the brand is now a massive hit in Korea.

After a whirlwind 72 hours in South Korea, it was time to put this grand  ginseng adventure to rest. With a day off in Seoul, I popped into a trendy coffee shop and ordered a latte. And to my delight, it was a ginseng-infused latte that tasted herbal-y, creamy, sweet, and delicious. 

As I sipped I found myself thinking, If only my parents drank it this way, I would have been a fan much, much sooner.

The Korea Ginseng Corporation has been studying the effects of including Red Ginseng extract in your daily diet. According to their research, here are benefits a user can expect from regular consumption.