Can Korean Cuisine Be a Mainstay for Western Palates?

The Committee has set nine strategies to industrialize and globalize Korean foods in order to make the local cuisine one loved by all people

The following are excerpts of an interview between NewsWorld and Park Hyun-chul, deputy minister of the Food Industry Policy Office at the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MIFAFF), who spoke about the modernization and industrialization of the traditional Korean food industry.
Question: Will you tell our readers about the significance and operation of the Committee on the Globalization of Korean Foods?
Answer: The inauguration of the committee is the result of the government and the private sector’s joint determination to expand our agricultural and food exports and raise our nation brand by nurturing Korean cuisine into one that is loved by people all across the world. Korean cuisine is our people’s cultural gem with globally recognized tastes, charms and nutritional values. The World Health Organization (WHO) designated Korean cuisine as one of the most nutritionally balanced food examples in 2004 and the Health Magazine picked Kimchi as one of the world’s healthiest foods in 2006.
The committee is an inter-ministry government and private sector consultative body, jointly headed by the minister of food, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, the minister of culture, sports and tourism and a civilian committee member. It consists of 36 people, including vice ministers of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and other ministries and representatives from academia, the food industry, cultural and economic circles as well as the farming and fishing fields.
Its goal is to establish strategies for the globalization of Korean foods, overhaul institutional systems and take stock of project developments. The committee will hold meetings once during each half of every year to take stock of what’s going on according to each ministry and each theme.
The committee has a task force, headed by the deputy minister of the Food Industry Policy Office at the MIFAFF, and a secretariat, headed by the Korean Foods Globalization Corps chief at the Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corp.
Q: Will you explain in specific terms the nine strategies to industrialize and globalize Korean foods?
A: The government is implementing the top nine strategies to industrialize and globalize Korean foods, which were established on May 4 with the goal of making Korean cuisine one that is loved by people all around the world. Four strategies are being carried out in Korea: the establishment of such industrial infrastructure for Korean cuisine as law and institutional systems, nurturing Korean food master chefs, fostering deluxe hotel Korean eateries as prestigious ones and expanding opportunities to experience Korean foods; and five other strategies are being performed abroad ― widening R&D investments in making Korean cuisine global, facilitating the supply of Korean-made food ingredients, raising the public standing of Korean cuisine, publicizing Korean dietary culture and fostering 100 top Korean food brands.
These strategies are to be translated into action in stages. Efforts will be made to make individual Korean foods into brand items and proliferate success stories into top-class la carte foods. Public restaurants will be encouraged to change into franchises, while deluxe la carte food restaurants will be asked to develop localized Korean cuisine menus and spread high-class Korean culture. A competitive Korean food menu will be explored and spread according to areas with a focus on classifying hot and salty tastes, Korean cuisine’s differentiating factor. Art and fun will converge in Korean cuisine as bibimbap (mixed rice with vegetables) performances take place, and Korean restaurants will evolve into a kind of cultural center.
The committee will carry out the following representative projects: In an effort to build infrastructure, it will provide support for such activities as the establishment of overseas Korean restaurant consultative bodies; information surveys on the overseas entry of Korean restaurants; research on the superiority and functionality of Korean cuisine; and efforts to globalize Korean cuisine indigenous to each region.
Educational institutions designed to educate overseas cooking manpower and Korean cuisine-specific universities will be designed to nurture professional manpower.
Among steps to ramp up Korean restaurants’ competitive edge are the development of standard recipes; creating menus in foreign languages; support for developing menus and consulting; certification of overseas Korean restaurants and financial support for Korean restaurants’ overseas entry.
Support for promoting Korean food culture and marketing activities will be strengthened through exhibitions including the Korea Food Expo as well as overseas publicity activities.
Q: Will you elaborate on strategies to globalize bibimbap, topokki, kimchi and traditional Korean wine?
A: Bibimbap recipes will be standardized, while 12 kinds of bibimbap-making stories will be developed according to seasons. Bibimbap master chefs will be cultivated while bibimbap foods, including take-out foods, will be developed and disseminated. The committee will provide support for bibimbap franchises’ overseas entry and bibimbap will be publicized abroad in connection with the promotion of such cultural contents as bibimbap performances adapting “Nanta,” a Korean non-verbal hit performance.
Based on a plan for the development of the industry of topokki, rice cake stew, announced in December 2008, research on diversifying rice cake, rice noodles and crossover menus as well as standardizing and documenting seasonings will be expanded. The Topokki Food Research Institute, which made its debut this past March, will be transformed into a topokki research mecca.
The government plans to provide support for building infrastructure for industrializing and globalizing topokki franchises. The number of topokki franchises and total member shops rose from 32 franchises with 1,075 businesses in late 2008 to 42 franchises with 1,360 shops this past May.
It will promote events to publicize topokki and promote Korean-produced rice consumption in Korea and abroad, such as the Topokki Food Festival that took place in Los Angeles in June 2009 and a cooking session to be held at the Johnson & Wales Cooking University in the U.S. in August 2009.
The World Kimchi Research Institute will be established in 2011 to take the lead in the global fermented foods market by modernizing Korea’s traditional fermentation of microbes through such efforts as researching and developing a probable substance to prevent the outbreak of new strains of influenza.
The committee seeks to put the merits and benefits of kimchi into primary and middle school textbooks in a bid to secure a demand base for prospective kimchi customers.
It will focus on overseas marketing activities designed to promote kimchi. The government will provide support for holding the Kimchi Expo in Tokyo in September and for producing films and cartoons about kimchi.
Traditional Korean alcoholic beverage, Jeontongju, has made a strong showing at recent international conferences and overseas sales promotion events. Jinyangju and Baekseju enjoyed popularity at the OECD Ministerial Conference held in Paris on June 25 and traditional Korean unrefined rice wine, takju (makkeolli), has made its way into Japan.
The government plans to build industrial infrastructure based on the traditional Korean liquor development plan established this past August and provide support for marketing activities.
Q: Will you tell us about strategies to promote the distribution of Korean foods and ingredients?
A: In an effort to facilitate the distribution of Korean food ingredients, on a domestic front, the government seeks to take such steps as the provision of financial support for eatery businesses’ installation of joint food ingredient distribution facilities and the purchase of food ingredients, the development of standards for food ingredients and the facilitation of the agro-fishery cyber trade. Externally, it seeks to hook up with direct food ingredient trade systems with Korean eateries and cafeterias in foreign countries through the Korean Food Ingredient Export Association and an overseas joint logistics center in order to boost food ingredient exports.
The government plans to provide support for modernizing facilities for producing and processing traditional Korean fermented foods, including red pepper paste, bean paste and traditional liquors, as well as building production infrastructure for the production of sun-dried salt. It will extend a helping hand to those in the agriculture and fisheries sectors willing to manufacture and process foods in order to expand exports and raise their farming incomes. Hong Ssang-ro, designated as traditional Korean food craftsman No. 14, has become an example of manufacturing and producing foods. She launched a business for manufacturing and processing blue Japanese apricot in 1994 and it has evolved into a company with 24 employees and 4.5 billion won in annual sales. nw

(clockwise) Five flavor berry tea and traditional Korean wine,; Korean-style five-color vegetable beef kebab,; Koran-style beef and glutinous rice salad,; and cold, radish-rolled vegetables.

Park Hyun-chul, deputy minister of the Food Industry Policy Office at the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MIFAFF)