Korea has a long and active history, stretching from the Lower Paleolithic period through the present day. There is some archeological evidence placing hominids on the Korean peninsula as far back as 700,000 BC, and tool making artifacts from this period have been found at several sites in the northern portion of the peninsula. The people of this time were mainly cave dwellers and migratory groups who hunted, gathered, and fished with stone tools

The earliest known Korean pottery dates back to around 8000 BC, so it is reasonable to assume that migratory tribal groups began to settle into village communities about this time if not earlier.  Hunter/gatherer societies would have begun the transition to limited early agriculture with the establishment of permanent or semi-permanent villages. Some early forms of food preservation such as simple drying probably also began around this period.

True Agricultural societies developed from these early villages and  evidence suggests that between 2500 and 1500 BC rice, red beans, soybeans and millet were being cultivated. Domestication of food animals probably also began in this period. In southern Manchuria and the Northern portion of the peninsula, walled cities of this period began to ally with each other to form a loose feudal federation which developed into the first Korean Kingdom of Gojoseon at around 2333 BC. With increased pottery usage and the formation of agricultural based villages, the cooking techniques of this time began to incorporate the use of stone ground grains, early forms of flat bread, and boiled foods in the form of gruels and soups.