Since early this month, posts claiming that "Japan is claiming to be the originator of dolsot bibimbap (hot stone pot bibimbap)" have spread across online communities and social media.

Several screenshot images were attached to the posts. They included a Japanese manga claiming that "dolsot bibimbap was born in Osaka, Japan," along with posts from Japanese social media users agreeing with the manga.


Bibimbap is a signature K-food, and hearing that Japan claims origin over our culinary culture of serving it in a sizzling "hot stone pot" naturally sparked public indignation.

South Korean netizens did not stay silent. Likening it to China's historical distortion attempt known as the 'Northeast Project,' they even coined the term 'Dolsot Project' to accuse Japan of rewriting culinary history. Numerous YouTube Shorts content criticizing Japan also flooded the platform.

There is no doubt that South Korea is the originator of dolsot bibimbap. The Traditional Culture Portal (www.kculture.or.kr), run by the Korea Craft & Design Foundation, clearly outlines the history of dolsot bibimbap, stating that it originated in Jeonju in the 1960s.


Then, is the claim that Japan originated dolsot bibimbap actually spreading rapidly in Japan?

Today, the SBS Fact Check team takes a detailed look at the process through which this information spread.


First, we decided to track down the original manga that claimed "dolsot bibimbap was born in Osaka, Japan." After verifying through tools like Google Image Search and AI, the original title of the manga was confirmed to be "The Yakiniku People: Bulgogi" (The 焼肉PEOPLE プルコギ).

The SBS Fact Check team purchased the manga online to review the content directly. We indeed found the section explaining that "dolsot bibimbap was born in Osaka."

The image on the left is the translated version circulating on social media, and the image on the right is the original manga page.
First of all, it was true that the Japanese manga claimed Japan was the originator of dolsot bibimbap.

However, this manga was published in 2007, 20 years ago. The content was written two decades ago.

There were also many screenshots showing Japanese netizens agreeing with the manga's content, so we examined whether such posts actually existed and when they were posted.

However, a large number of the posts had been deleted or the social media accounts closed, and among the remaining posts, the most recent one was written two years ago.


In other words, content from a 20-year-old manga and posts by netizens from several years ago were dug up to claim that "Japan is conducting a 'Dolsot Project'." No "recent or new evidence" related to this recent 'Dolsot Project' controversy could be found.

Looking into when similar controversies arose, it became clear that this pattern repeats almost every year. Five years ago, a domestic online community posted the exact same manga snippet and similar Japanese reactions, initiating outrage by claiming "Japan is claiming to be the originator of dolsot bibimbap." Last year, a similar post appeared again. It was completely identical to the content posted this year.


When the Fact Check team thoroughly examined Japanese social media, online communities, and news articles, we found that claims of Japan being the birthplace of dolsot bibimbap were indeed made by some right-wing politicians in the early-to-mid 2010s, when anti-Korean sentiment ran high. For example, Kaori Arimoto, the current Secretary-General of the Conservative Party of Japan and a well-known right-wing politician, once posted, "I heard that dolsot bibimbap was started by the female owner of a famous Zainichi Korean meat restaurant." This post was also not recent, having been written in November 2015. Even then, the claim attracted little attention within Japan.


In the end, this structure repeatedly summons a scene from an old manga and past social media reactions, repackages them into the present context, and generates anger each time. The 'dolsot bibimbap origin controversy' circulating online is not a simple debate over food origins, but a classic case study of how outdated information is recycled into content that triggers present outrage through mechanisms of reproducing false or exaggerated information.

Of course, refuting false claims is important. This is even more true for historical issues between Korea and Japan, where many unresolved questions remain. There are still people in Japan who deny the comfort women issue and claim Dokdo as their territory. We must firmly respond to such historical distortions. However, fueling anger based on unverified information can actually weaken even our legitimate criticisms. Only fact-based criticism carries persuasiveness and makes our rightful voice even stronger.

Regarding the claim that "the assertion that Japan originated dolsot bibimbap is spreading in Japan," the SBS Fact Check team rates it as 'Mostly False.'


(Writer: Kim Hyo-jin, Intern: Park Geun-ho)