This paper examines the background, purpose, and content of the document submitted to the U.S. Department of State by American diplomat George C. Foulk, who inspected the ginseng industry in Gaeseong(開城), Gyeonggi Province, in 1884.
Foulk's "The Ginseng of Corea" can be divided into five parts: an overview of the terminology and perception of ginseng, the buildings and facilities of the ginseng farm, annual ginseng fields and ginseng cultivation, the red ginseng production process, and the competing countries and prices of red ginseng.
Foulk's inspection in Gaeseong was conducted with the courtesy of a diplomat and 'official' rather than a 'spy.' Although the actual inspection of the ginseng farm lasted only about half a day, he not only gathered information on ginseng cultivation and red ginseng production but also organized the content collected before and after the inspection to report back to his home country. Subsequently, U.S. Minister Allen sent ginseng seedlings from Joseon to the United States, hoping for successful cultivation by the Department of Agriculture, and recommended the use of Foulk's excellent report from ten years earlier.
Ultimately, Foulk's 1884 inspection of Gaeseong was part of a commercial information-gathering activity aimed at overcoming the weaknesses in ginseng cultivation techniques, red ginseng production, and trade, and it served as a foundational document for accumulating ginseng cultivation knowledge in the United States in the 1890s.

Keywords: Ginseng, Red Ginseng, Gaeseng City, American diplomat George C. Foulk, Horace N. Allen