January is often deemed the best time of year to eat oysters in Korea.

“As the temperature drops, the meat inside the oyster shells fills up along with plenty of glycogen, which makes oysters during the coldest month, often January, the tastiest and nutrient-rich,” said researcher the 'National Institute of Fisheries Science'.

In Korea, there are various oyster dishes.

: 'Gulgukbap', 'Eoriguljeot', 'GulJeon' and 'Raw Oyster with spicy sauce'...

'Gulgukbap', which translates to oyster rice soup, is one of Korea’s beloved wintertime dishes. It often served while still actively boiling inside an earthenware bowl.

'Gulgukbap' is served with small pieces of tofu, seaweed, chives and radish. But the oysters are the main ingredient of the dish.

Oysters are also made into salty side dish called 'Eoriguljeot'. It is salted oysters that have been fermented for around three days.

'GulJeon' is a pan-fried food with various vegetables.

Oysters may be a luxury reserved for special occasions in some parts of the world, but in Korea during wintertime, it is oyster galore.

Seafood restaurants serve mountains of oysters on a steamer.

Oysters are comparatively much cheaper in Korea than in other regions, especially the United States and Europe.

One oyster costs around 24 cents to 40 cents in Korea, while it costs about 2 dollars in the U.S. and about 9 dollars in France.

The reason for this price disparity, according to 2019 data from the 'OECD', is that Korea is the world’s second-largest producer of oysters following China. 'The Korean Statistical Information Service' reported that the country produced 305,914 tons worth of oysters in 2021. This number takes into account only farmed oysters and does not include wild ones.

Farmed oysters tend to grow faster and larger than wild oysters and have slightly less of a briny flavor. Of the nearly 306,000 tons of Korea's harvested oysters, 86 percent come from seaside cities in province 'South Gyeongsang'  such as 'Tongyeong', 'Geoje' and 'Goseong', according to the 'Korea Maritime Institute'.

The parts of the ocean where the oyster farms are set up are nationally protected from pollution.

Some 40 to 70 percent of homegrown oysters get exported annually, mainly to Japan and the United States, the 'Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corporation' reported.

But because of its large overall production, Korea has been able to incorporate oysters into many of its own dishes in the winter.