This article examines how foreigners’ perceptions of the history of Korean science were formed and how they were endorsed and internalized by Korean historians. The interest in Korea’s scientific and technological heritage began with the works of missionaries and oriental scholars in Europe and the United States in the late 19th century. During the Japanese colonial Era, Japanese scientists, as well as American orientalists, conducted further historical and scientific research on well-known scientific heritage. It resulted in the list of “world-first” or “world-best” discoveries and inventions by Koreans. The list was not only widely acknowledged by Westerners, but also endorsed by Korean historians. By the 1970s, there emerged a virtuous cycle, in which Korean historian’s works, initiated by the list of “world-first,” facilitated Western researcher’s understanding of the history of Korean science. The intellectual exchange between Joseph Needham and Jeon Sang-woon is an example. In addition, as a result of the exchange, the history of Korean science became acknowledged as a legitimate subfield of history within Korean academia.