What do 토마토, 일년감, 남망시, and 땅감 all have in common?

 ANSWER: They all mean "tomato."

The most commonly used word for "tomato" in Korea seems to be 토마토, which comes from the English word "tomato." The Sino-Korean word for "tomato" is 남만시 (南蠻枾), which literally means "southern (南) barbarian (蠻) persimmon (枾)." The word 남만 (南蠻) was a derogatory term used by the Chinese to refer to people and tribes who lived in the region south of the Yangtze River and beyond. The word 일년감 (一年감) is a mixture of Sino-Korean and pure Korean and literally means "one (一) year (年) persimmon (감)," suggesting that a tomato is a persimmon-like fruit that must be replanted each year, unlike persimmons.

And I have read that Koreans used to refer to tomatoes, and may still do in certain regions, as 땅감, which is a pure Korean word that literally means "ground (땅) persimmon (감)," differentiating tomatoes, which grow close to ground, from persimmons, which grow on branches high above the ground.

Of the four Korean words for "tomato," my favorite is 땅감 (ground persimmon), but probably few Korean these days use the word since the word is not in my dictionary. My least favorite is 토마토, which does not flow off the tongue very easily. I think it would be better if it were pronounced 도마도 instead of 토마토, but I don't get to make up the rules.

The fact that Koreans compared tomatoes to persimmons may help explain why Koreans generally treat tomatoes more as a fruit than as a vegetable. In the United States, for example, we don't usually offer guests tomatoes or a plate of sliced tomatoes to snack on, but in Korea they do.

From Dong-A's Prime Korean-English Dictionary