The Korean people have used insam as one of Koryo medicines for the treatment of diseases.

According to an old medical book "Tonguibogam (Encyclopedia of Traditional Medicine of Korea)", insam protects the five viscera of human body, relaxes the mind, improves the eyesight, develops the memory and prevents debility. Insam, whose root has an anthropomorphic shape, was known as a specific remedy in the period of the Three Kingdoms (early 3rd century B.C.-middle 7th century A.D.).

An old medical book of China says that the people of Koguryo Kingdom (B.C. 277-A.D. 668) used insam as one kind of medicines. In fact, Koguryo people used it for the treatment of chronic gastritis and stomach ulcer.

In the period of Koryo (918-1392), insam was known as the best antianemic and tonic and it was cultivated on a field. Kaesong (the then Songdo) became the center of its cultivation. At that time, insam was exported to other countries and came to be known to the world as "Koryo insam" or "Kaesong Koryo insam".

In the period of the feudal Joson dynasty (1392-1910), the demand for insam increased at home and abroad and its cultivation and process technology was further developed. After all, the insam trade took a large proportion in the then foreign trade.