[1][2][3] Fresh herring or saury is frozen at -10 degrees Celsius and is placed outdoors in December to repeat freezing at night and thawing during the day.

[4] There are records of gwamegi in the Joseon era document Ohjuyeonmunjangjeonsango (오주연문장전산고; 五洲衍文長箋算稿) which mentions: "herring is smoked in order to prevent rotting".

In another document Gyuhapcheongseo (규합총서; 閨閤叢書), it is written: "herring with clear eyes are chosen to be dried, which give an unusual taste".

It is held in November every year and hosts various programs, such as a specialty product contest, free tasting events, and playing traditional Korean music.

The Young-Il Bay people who learned how to freeze and dry the fish further developed by doing this by placing herring on the beach of Guryongpo, where the sun was blazing during the day and the cool sea breeze was hanging at night.