In this regard, Pak Yong Hae, a candidate academician at the Academy of Social Sciences, told KCNA:

Using chopsticks is good for hand and brain development.

About 1.5 billion people use chopsticks in the world, most of them in Korea, China and Japan.

It is believed that chopsticks came into being in Korea, following spoons. The use of spoons and chopsticks is related to the Korean national diet made up of soup and dish.

Koreans have used metal chopsticks while Chinese and Japanese wooden ones.

From childhood, they take up, with chopsticks, a piece of salted perilla leaves, jelly, boiled beans in soysauce and others. It is believed that 64 muscles and some 30 joints in human body move simultaneously when picking up a dish with chopsticks. Such movement gives effect on the brain proper, and it is helpful to preventing dementia among the aged.

Thus, the Koreans' diet culture has developed along with chopsticks.