2011 Yeongsanpo Skate Festival (영산포홍어축제): April 22nd - 24th.

Short notice with this---an earlier search told me it was actually scheduled for last week---but the 2011 Yeongsanpo Skate Festival (영산포홍어축제) will take place in Naju from April 22nd through 24th. Skate (홍어, hongeo) is ray that when eaten raw tastes, and smells, sort of like a cleaning product, but which has a strong enough following to inspire festivals in Naju and Shinan county. You'll find a little more information on the festival from the Naju city announcement, in Korean, and you'll find buses that stop in Yeongsanpo from Gwangju, Suncheon, most towns in western Jeollanam-do, as well as from Naju itself.


A big catch a few years ago, from Naver via this post.

Naju has a lot of historical points of interest but doesen't get as much attention as Gyeongju or even Buyeo, but is worth a visit all the same. It used to be a major port city during Japanese occupation, and Yeongsanpo still has a few architectural reminders, the old lighthouse in the poster above being one of them.

I'm just offended she spelled it "kimchee." This is 2011, people.

McDonald's Korea to double number of restaurants by 2015.

The JoongAng Daily has information on McDonald's plans to grow in South Korea.

McDonald’s Korea announced yesterday that it will invest 500 billion won ($449 million) in the local market and double its number of restaurants here over the next five years.

The plan includes opening 243 new restaurants in Korea by 2015, most of which will be franchised locations, Sean Newton, the chief executive officer of McDonald’s local unit, said yesterday during at press conference in Myeong-dong, central Seoul. About 80 percent of the new restaurants will also feature drive-through windows, Newton added.

The move comes as the local unit of U.S.-based McDonald’s shifts from streamlining internal systems and services to expanding its footprint in Korea.

In outlining the goal of having a total of 500 restaurants in Korea by 2015, Newton stressed the importance of the local market to McDonald’s overall growth.

The article says the chain's presence in Korea is still far behind Lotteria, which has 890 stores. McDonald's Korea's CEO closes the article with

“[O]ur goal is not to be bigger than Lotteria but to develop a successful McDonald’s market . . . We will grow not by stealing market share, but by growing the market.”

The Chosun Ilbo and Korea Times have articles on this as well. In a post last week on fast food restaurants in Seoul we looked at the geographical distribution of several Western chains and the idea that more expensive menu options are favored in the city's trendier areas.

Also in the news today is the "McDonald's Grandmother" (맥도날드 할머니), a woman spending her days at a Seoul McDonald's, and the subject of a recent SBS documentary. From 깜뉴스:

맥도날드 할머니는 매일 밤 9시만 되면 패스트푸드점 맥도날드에 나타나 새벽 4시까지 새우잠을 자다 사라졌다. 마땅한 거처도 없이 하루의 대부분을 맥도날드와 교회, 스타벅스를 오가며 불편하게 보내고 있었다.

더 충격적인 사실은 할머니가 24시간 동안 한 번도 눕지 않고 커피 한 잔으로만 끼니를 때우며 10년 째 생활하고 있다는 점. 특히 그녀가 유명대학교 불문과를 졸업했으며, 외무부에서 근무한 엘리트였다는 사실이 알려져 충격과 호기심을 불러 일으켰다.

And more 신기해 still, she reads an English newspaper every day! *cough* See also this post on McRefugees in Korea.

Conspicuous (burger) consumption in Gangnam?

I don't care much about the trend the 파이낸셜뉴스, and the Korea Times in English, is trying to note, but I was interested to learn a few facts about the fastfood industry in Seoul. From the Korea Times:

Lotteria operates the largest number of franchised stores in Seoul among the home-grown and foreign fast food chains, but the U.S.-based Burger King, which offers pricier selections, has more outlets in affluent southern Seoul districts such as Seocho, Gangnam and Songpa, the Center for Freedom of Information said Wednesday.

The center said there are currently a total of 327 fast food restaurants operating across the nation’s capital, with Lotteria owning the largest number at 130, followed by McDonald’s at 62, Burger King at 60, KFC at 43 and Popeyes at 32.

The basis for the title "Pricey Burger King popular in Gangnam" comes from comparing the most-popular items on the menus of Lotteria and Burger King. Lotteria's Hanwhoo Bulgogi Burger set costs 5,100 won, while Burger King's Double Whopper Set costs 8,600. It's worth noting that Lotteria's 한우불고기"세트" is only a burger and a small drink, while Burger King's has the more familiar medium fry and medium soda.

mk뉴스 tells us how many of each fast food chain are in Gangnam, the most affluent ward of Seoul:

강남구는 버거킹 11곳, KFC 7곳, 맥도날드 6곳, 롯데리아 3곳 순이었다. 서초구도 버거킹 10곳, 맥도날드 6곳, 롯데리아 5곳 순이었고 송파구는 버거킹 9곳, KFC 8곳, 맥도날드 3곳, 롯데리아 2곳 순이었다.

While Yonhap provides this neat map showing the geographic distribution of fast food chains Lotteria (blue), McDonald's (purple), Burger King (red), KFC (yellow), and Popeye's (green) in each ward throughout the capital.



For the sake of comparison, the whole of Jeollanam-do---not including Gwangju---has 42 Lotteria, 3 McDonald's, 0 Burger King, 0 KFC, and 2 Popeye's.

Gwangju to get country's first coffee and cocoa museum.

So says GFN's local news page:

Under an exchange agreement signed last month with the Deok-won Group in Malaysia, Chunnam Techno College is opening a coffee and cocoa museum in Nambu University, Gwangju. Chunnam Techno College trains baristas in its Hotel, Tourism and Cocktail Department.

. . .

Opening later next year, the museum will show how plantations grow coffee and cocoa trees and how they produce and process various beans.

It will also provide various public programs, including coffee tastings at its in-house café.

It will be the country's first museum devoted to mixing espresso and hot water coffee and cocoa museum. Korean-language article here from Yonhap.

McDonald's brings Quarter Pounder to Korea.

From the official McDonald's Korea site.

After a limited release in 2008, the Quarter Pounder with Cheese and the Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese debuted in South Korea on November 1st and, as the JoongAng Daily writes, McDonald's is giving away 500 free iPhones to customers who order it. Like the Big Mac, Chicken McNuggets, and the Egg McMuffin, the Quarter Pounder is a signature menu item at McDonald's, which likely explains its addition, though South Korea of course doesn't use "pounds"---the name in Korean is simply "quarter pounder cheese" written in the Korean alphabet, 쿼터파운더치즈---and customers won't associate the name with the heft as American consumers once did. The sandwiches will serve as additional large beef sandwiches on the menu, with the Double Quarter Pounder---at 226 grams of beef---surpassing the Double Bulgogi Burger, the Bacon Tomato Deluxe, and the Big Mac in size.


From 아시아경제.

The JoongAng Daily takes a quick look at fermented skate (hongeo, 홍어), a regional specialty on Shinan county's Heuksan-do.

“Hongtak is really addictive,” said Lee Jong-seok, a 56-year-old taxi driver. “People can’t stand the odor at first but if you eat it more than three times, you will eventually get addicted to it. And I heard that the gelatin from fermented fish is good for the cartilage and rheumatism.”

I actually don't mind the taste.

Unfortunately the profile comes a month after Heuksan-do's annual hongeo festival (흑산홍어축제), so you'll have to wait until the Yeongsanpo Skate Festival (영산포홍어축제) in Naju next spring.

Big 홍어 couple springs ago, from Naver via this post.

Coffee shop changes in Gwangju, and Burger King probably coming to Yeosu.

KoreaMaria writes that Gwangju got it's first Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, occupying the location of Rodem Tree across from the side entrance to Chonnam National University. She runs down a list of other recent changes to the local coffee shop and fastfood scene, though none of it will be news to people who still live in Gwangju.

Another interesting development is that Jeollanam-do is shaping up to get its first Burger King. A Naver search turns up a Dolsan Hospital (돌산병원) location (map), though its not yet listed on the official Burger King Korea site. Another Naver search brings up online job postings for positions with Burger King throughout Jeollanam-do. It will be a welcome addition, for at least in my opinion the best burgers in Korea outside of Seoul can be found at Burger King.


Curious image choice by JobKorea.

Gwangju has 224 coffee shops.

"Coffee shops just keep on multiplying," writes the JoongAng Daily in a quick look at the country's largest chains.

Industry representatives say such growth is possible because coffeehouses in Korea provide a space to be rather than just a cup of coffee. They cite the coining of a new word - “coffice,” which combines “coffee” with “office” - as how customers see their local coffee shop. It’s a place to work, study or socialize.

Ugh. The Gwangju Ilbo writes that Gwangju has 224 coffee shops, um, not including the ones that deliver (ubiquitious in, and increasingly exclusive to, that southwestern city).

Jeollanam-do's Ipsaeju wins soju-tasting competiton.

Ipsaeju, with Suncheon's own Kim Ok-bin in 2006.

Ipsaeju (잎새주), written Yipsejoo by the company, was found the best soju in the business at a recent tasting, and the Dong-A Ilbo has the story:

“Ipsaeju,” a type of the traditional Korean spirit soju with an alcohol by volume of 19.5 percent and produced in Bohae in South Jeolla Province, has won a tasting competition for soju.

The tasting event for traditional Korean alcohol was held at the College of Hotel & Tourism Management at Kyung Hee University in Seoul June 5.

Forty-three well-known sommeliers in Korea and representatives from the traditional alcohol industry gathered in a classroom reserved for the event. On each table for two, 11 paper cups and a large cup to be used to spit out the drink after tasting were placed.

Eleven types of soju with high market shares in Korea were contained in the 11 cups with covers on them.

Should say "produced by Bohae in South Jeolla Province," as it's a company not a location, and is headquartered in Mokpo. According to the company's press release, which has a list of how the 11 labels ranked, Daesun's C1 came in last.

Gwangju (no, the other one) Tomato Festival.

From Yonhap.

In what has long been an annoying habit of English-language publications in Korea, the JoongAng Daily tells us about a tomato festival, after it's finished. The other Gwangju---the small city in Gyeonggi-do, not the big one down south---held its annual Tomato Festival (퇴촌토마토축제) from June 18th - 20th. So, um, I hope you went. Here is a collection of photographs from internet news sites.

Gov't gets a clue, rethinks stupid "drunken rice" nickname.

There are, on average, 27 articles per week on makgeolli in South Korea's English-language dailies, and another two or three pieces per day on globalizing Korean food, give or take. In that, um, spirit *cough* is the JoongAng Daily's Tuesday contribution on the "growing obsession" with makgeolli.

You'll remember last week the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries announced that it was giving the drink the English nickname "drunken rice" (드렁큰라이스) to somehow facilitate non-Korean understanding of the product. The JoongAng Daily article says that plan has been scrapped because of strong netizen resistance.

The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries held a public contest to develop an official English-language nickname for makgeolli, and last week it announced the winner: “Drunken Rice.” In second and third place were “Makcohol” and “Markelixir.”

The ministry said in release earlier that the nickname should be easy and fun for foreigners to pronounce, and pledged to use the winning name in its marketing activities.

Soon after the results were released, however, the ministry’s Web site was bombarded with postings criticizing the move.

“Unlike in Korea, where alcohol drinking is generously accepted by society, the English word ‘drunken’ conveys considerably negative connotation. Besides, would you find it easy to understand wine if its origin countries called it ‘drunken grape’?” wrote Choi Hae-su.

The article only talked to Koreans, but English-speaking foreigners---ostensibly the target audience---were just as annoyed. On my post I wrote:

Clearly, Drunken Rice isn't as laughable as makcohol, as absurd as markelixir, but what's the point of an English nickname? What does "Drunken Rice" accomplish that makgeolli doesn't? In what way does it make it easier for non-Koreans to comprehend and understand makgeolli, considering most non-Koreans have even never heard of the drink? Finally, what evidence is there of a lack of comprehension and understanding among non-Koreans of makgeolli, and does it exist to so great an extent that an entirely new English name is necessary? The answers to these important questions were likely trumped by the desire to have an English nickname to sound cosmopolitan and smart, forgetting of course that it has the opposite effect on people who actually use the language.

Food blogger FatManSeoul came up with several good reasons why the name, and indeed the whole naming process, was yet another Korean English fail; here's one:

The fact that the new nickname is in (bad) English just demonstrates that the agencies involved are too wrapped up in marketing to western tourists, despite the fact that a huge hunk of the people who clamor for Korean food products and come here for tourism are other Asians. The biggest current market for makgeolli outside Korea is . . . Japan. And you know what name the drink is known under there? The drink that has seen a major expansion of its market there? マッコリ。 Makkori, i.e. the same exact word. Somehow, Fatman doesn’t think they’re thinking of the Japanese and their lust for ドファンケンライス (doraanken raisu)。

There are plenty of comments on The Marmot's Hole as well.

The JoongAng Daily article continues:

Instead, the Presidential Council on National Branding will come up with a simplified romanization of the word by the end of June, the official added, without providing details.

Well, that should be amusing. The romanization of the drink was in the news a little while ago, and via Zen Kimchi comes a post from Schoolhouse: ROK that summarizes the recent talk about the efforts at globalization, including some debate over the romanization makgeolli vs. makolli.

The food capital of Asia is __________, the ecological capital of the world is _________.

I'm often reminded of a passage on the first page of Michael Breen's 1998 book The Koreans when I read through the local English-language news sites:

The local media can be extremely misleading as a source of information. They generally do not see their role as a check on government and business, with the result that government intentions are frequently reported as facts. A huge proportion of news stories, when you follow them up, turn out to be speculation, trial balloons, rumour and deliberate distortion.

I think you'd have an easier time disputing the first part of that paragraph now, a couple decades after it was inspired, but the second half remains true, especially in the local English-language media, which sees its role as a promotional tool written by and often for Koreans. That brings me to a fluff piece in the Korea Times, "North Jeolla to Become Food Capital of Asia":

President Lee Myung-bak pledged Wednesday to support North Jeolla Province's bid to become the ``food capital'' of Northeast Asia, saying the project was closely related to the government's plan to globalize hansik, Korea's traditional cuisine.

``The province's efforts to build a cluster of food firms and institutes deserve more attention as the importance of the food industry is growing fast,'' Lee said during a visit to Jeonju, a city in the province famous for bibimbap, a mix of rice, vegetables and meat.

``I believe its plan to become the food capital will not only help promote regional development but also help foreigners better understand Korea and its dietary culture.''

I'm sorry to say I only visited Jeonju once, but I had a very pleasant time and would love to go back someday. I learned that Gwangju might not want to call itself the "Hub City of Asian Culture" when it doesn't even have as much culture as Jeonju. As you've heard probably eleven times this week, "Jeonju is famous for bibimbap. Do you know bibimbap? It is kind of traditional Korean dish. Almost of Koreans like the bibimbap. If you go to Jeonju you can enjoy Bibimbap there . But I think maybe You can't eat bibimbap. it is so spice" and indeed the food of Jeonju, and all of the region, is a prime attraction. My collection of maps and promotional material was among the casualties of my move back to the US, so I no longer have my Jeonju guidebook, but I do recall it promoting itself as, dare I say, a hub of Korean food, and I wondered how Gwangju would feel about that, considering it also sees itself as, dare I say, a mecca of Korean cuisine as well.

That Korea Times article goes on to talk about the Saemangeum project whereby 155 square miles of wetlands will be turned into "Northeast Asia's new growth engine" and "a global business hub and a beautiful waterside leisure city that comes second to Venice and Amsterdam" according to someone in the Prime Minister's office. In January we learned the new city would be called "Ariul" (아리울). From an International Herald Tribune article in November 2008:

"This project is not about protecting the environment," said Park Hyoung Bae, an official with the Saemangeum development authority. "It is about economic development. And we will do that in an environmentally sound way."

It continues:

[Developers] will replace natural wetlands with artificial ones and turn riverbeds into lakes. They will build a park along the road on the sea dyke and try to attract tourists with a theme park, convention center and even perhaps a casino.

The Korea Herald had a piece on it in December:

Korea began work to transform part of the Saemangeum tidal flats on the country's southwest coast into a regional tourism hub, the government said Thursday, according to Yonhap News.

. . .

The park region is part of a much larger 10.2 trillion won project that aims to build a world-class tourism industry hub on Saemangeum by 2020. The hub will cover 24.4 square km and feature international schools, theaters, museums, healthcare facilities and a residential area deemed vital for attracting both local and foreign investors.

The IHT article also repeats the line about that area of the country not having much economic development. Please excluse the ignorance of a guy from a big country, but I can't understand why one smaller than his home state of Pennsylvania needs "development," hotels, and casinos in every town and on every coast. Matter of fact South Korea has so many hubs I'd wish it'd loan Pennsylvania some. Anyway, Birds Korea has a page on Saemangeum looking at some of the consequences of this "development."



Last month I also learned from Xinhua that "S Korea's Suncheon Bay dreams of becoming world's ecological capital." Suncheon is the self-proclaimed Ecological Capital of Korea (대한민국 생태수도), and most of that pride derives from Suncheon Bay, one of the nicest spots in the country if I do say so myself. That article led off with a nice story:

South Korean farmer Jeong Jong-tae, who lives in Suncheon Bay Area, is busy feeding hooded cranes at four o'clock every afternoon as it is now a season that the birds come from Siberia winter to the region's well-preserved wetlands.

The food for the endangered birds comes from Jeong's own harvest, which he grew by taking an eco-friendly, organic way of farming.

It has been only a year since Jeong took the job, which is part of the so-called "scenic farming" the Suncheon municipal government launched in a bid to provide first-class food and shelter for some 1,000 migratory birds that visit wetlands in South Korea's far-south city every winter.

A committee of 95 nearby farms, led by Jeong, joined the government-led project, agreeing to renovate their farms as a place where visiting birds could gather, while supported by the city government through tax benefits and subsidies.

Local authorities call Suncheon Bay one of the five biggest wetlands in the world, though I've found nothing to confirm that, and even the numbers show it isn't even the biggest in Korea. In 2013 Suncheon will host the International Garden Expo (2013년국제정원박람회), and local authorities are more than welcome to invite me and my fiancee to visit. They'll be building a new visitor's center down there, and it looks great but it does make you wonder how all this development fits the idea of preservation.



That's sort of the paradoxical thing about Suncheon Bay and Korea's other wetlands. If you listen to the authorities, they're being preserved for the sake of promoting them as eco-tourism destinations. You'll remember in 2008 they had the Ramsar Convention in the city of Changwon, while they were simultaneously building over the wetlands on the west coast. According to the Korea Times, the Minister of the Environment in 2008

adapted his pragmatism to the ``wise use of wetlands,'' the No.1 priority of the Ramsar Convention. ``What must be protected must be protected, but it would be even better if wetlands are utilized as eco-tourism sites because that could result in not only their protection but also the revitalization of the local economy,'' he said.

Kimchi Research Center opening in Bundang?!?!

I was shocked when I read this:

A state-run research center for kimchi opened Wednesday with the aim of developing technologies concerning the spicy-pickled vegetables into a more promotable item worldwide along with many other fermented dishes.

Located in the Korea Food Research Institute in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province, the organization will spearhead efforts to set up a foundation for development and promotion of traditional Korean food, or ``hansik,'' the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said.

Bundang? Bundang doesn't even have a Korean restaurant, and except for what they serve with the steak, pasta, and pho, hardly have any kimchi, either. This is a terrible blow to the pride of Gwangju, the Hub City of Asian Culture and not only the self-proclaimed Hub but also the Mecca of kimchi research in Korea, a city that just played it safe by using both. This development means Gwangju's English-language radio station will need to divert all its resources to talking about the Photonics Expo *cough* Then I read, like, two more paragraphs:

The center will move to Gwangju with the completion of a larger facility by 2011. The southwest city is currently pressing ahead with the construction of an integrated research center for kimchi.

Okay, that's good. Getting the World Kimchi Research and Development Center was no small feat; from a Korea Times article last year:

``Gwangju faced intense competition from other cities to house the new R&D center. We decided in the end to give Gwangju this unique privilege because it is a region that prides itself on superior expertise on kimchi,'' said Prof. Roh Jae-sun of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development at Seoul National University. Roh headed a state committee organized to select the venue of the institute.

Wanju of North Jeolla Province, Goesan of North Chungcheong Province and Geochang of South Gyeongsang Province also applied to the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to house the institute.

I think just for fun Shimane Prefecture should build one. Gwangju spends a lot of energy promoting its connection to kimchi, and about the biggest annual event is the Kimchi Festival held each fall.


A piece of the awesome kimchi pop art at the festival last year. Read the accompanying post to see what I had to say about it, but basically I said that quirkly stuff like this, stuff that "foreigners" will get a kick out of, will raise the profile of kimchi overseas, a side dish that really will never outgrow a niche market.

KBS has more commentary on the center, explaining the significance, among other things:

The research center bears great significance as it makes it possible to study Korea’s signature dish in a constant and systematic way. It will contribute greatly to boosting Korea’s position as the homeland of Kimchi. It is also expected to help establish the scientific foundation necessary for modernizing Korea’s traditional fermentation industry and making the country a global Mecca of fermented food. In addition, it is expected to play an important role in developing the domestic food industry as a future growth engine.

As if there was any question about Korea's position as the homeland of kimchi. I'll close with the best news associated with this research center, something I read last year in the Korea Times:

The Gwangju institute will also work closely with the Secretariat for Kimchi Globalization[.]

I can't tell you why I was never named Secretariat for Kimchi Globalization, but I think it had something to do with my visa. You can read more about the 세계김치연구소 via Naver. It will be set up in Gwangju's Imam-dong in Nam-gu next year.

Whoa, Mokpo has a Kraze Burger.

Thanks to hits from Google searches for "Kraze Burger in Yeosu," I eventually learned that they opened a Kraze Burger (크라제버거) in Mokpo back on December 24th. According to this map from Naver it's located in Hadang, near Peace Park roughly between Lotte Mart and Lotte Cinema. Kraze Burger is a Korean chain generally considered, by expats, decent but expensive.

Mokpo, a city of 244,801 in western Jeollanam-do, got its Kraze Burger the day after Gwangju got it's second. I visited the first, in Sangmu, in the fall and thought it was a pretty good burger. Commenters on the review page by the Zen Kimchi Food Journal point out the restaurant's pretension, and in my second comment I wrote:

It’s a place to go because it’s where people go. Koreans pay twice as much because they don’t know any better. The one at COEX is a joke, with the line out the door all the time. Part of the experience, part of the illusion of eating “western food.” A place where people can pay a lot, leave half their plate behind, and feel cosmopolitan.

But when you're way "out in the country," as people in Seoul describe this city of 1.5 million by virtue of it not being Seoul, your options are limited.


The K.O. Burger, from November.

Unless you're a loyal customer of McDonald's or Lotteria there's really no debate about the best burger in Mokpo. What's divisive is the pronunciation: the English leads people to say "craze," but the Korean is a tri-syllabic "Kuh-rah-jay."

Update: Gwangju's got three Vietnamese restaurants.

Update: I found the second one, the one my Sangmu bureau chief fiancee was originally talking about. It's a Pho Bay (포베이), another franchise, and it opened in November. It's located in Chipyeong-dong---the neighborhood loosely known as Sangmu---in the K-One building across from 한국은행 and catacorner to City Hall (map here, in Korean). Turns out there's also one in the Lotte Department Store near Geumnamno 5-ga subway station. Boy, I really suck at keeping up on these things.



Original post:

Not sure when this opened, since nobody from my Brian in Jeollanam-do Sangmu bureau tells me anything, but it's a new addition since the last time I was in the area. A Hoa Binh (호아빈) restaurant is now in Chipyeong-dong, behind Columbus Cinema near the E-Mart in Gwangju's Sangmu area. You'll find a map here via Naver, and one on the Hoa Binh website. It's accessible via buses 지원45 지원50, and if you're going by subway you can head out exit 3 of Uncheon Station (운천역), make that right, and walk along the park until you come to, and go behind, the movie theater.

You people laugh at my enthusiasm, because Hoa Binh is hardly anything special for you Seoul or Gyeonggi folks, but Jeollanam-do has always been deprived of foreign food. This is the first Vietnamese restaurant in town since the little one near Chonnam National University closed sometime last year, and the first chain in Jeollanam-do since the Hoa Binh in Suncheon closed in April 2007. Over the past year, though, there have been some improvements. In downtown Gwangju there's now Thali, Al-Arab, and the popular First Nepal, and there's a Thai restaurant called "Thai Food" near Songjeongni Station (walk along the renovated street across from the station, and turn down the alley at the store 화이트존).

A Kraze Burger opened last year in Sangmu as well, and it serves a pretty good burger.


The K.O. Burger, from November.

Korean the "safest" ethnic food in the US, writes Tyler Cowen.

The local English-language newspapers devote an embarrassing amount of space to the promotion of Korean cuisine, and rarely a day passes when there aren't, like, three features about hansik globalization, national food competitiveness, and how Korean food ought to be shoved down the world's throat. So I guess having their national cuisine called simply the "safest" ethnic food in the US by Tyler Cowen might be a modest compliment to a government that wants its food ranked among the top five in the world by 2017, but it's an interesting thought nonetheless. In December, in response to the question

Which cuisine are you most likely to be satisfied with when dining out? Which disappoints you the least # of visits?

Cowen---an economist, New York Times columnist, professor, and writer of "Tyler Cowen's Ethnic Food Guide"---answers on his blog:

Korean is perhaps the safest bet, for two reasons. First, non-Koreans are not usually interested in the food. They might enjoy Bul-Gogi but there will be plenty of other dishes for Korean patrons and these will not be "dumbed down." The lack of mainstream interest limits the potential for sell-out behavior on the part of the restaurant. Second, many Korean dishes, most of all the pickled vegetables, "travel" relatively well and do fine in a culture -- the USA -- which is not obsessed with fresh ingredients.

The most dangerous cuisine to try, in the United States at least, is Chinese.

Korean / foreigner dinner in Gwangju on January 16th.

Roboseyo's Rob Ouwehand has been putting a lot of time into 2S2, a monthly meet-up of expats in Seoul. You can read more about it via these links:

* Roboseyo, "2S2: Toward an expat community."
* 2S2 Community: The Blog
* Korea Herald, "2S2 Builds Community"

From the Herald article on December 9th:

The idea is simple: on the second Saturday of each month, at 2 p.m. (hence the name 2S2), in pockets all around Korea. 2S2 is meant to be an open-invitation get-together, and I hope 2S2 can grow to become a decentralized meet-up where expats can gather at designated places each month, and build and strengthen connections. It is meant to provide a way for expats in Korea to support each other, and to help each other learn about Korea and integrate better with Korean society. The invitation is open to anybody, whatever the job or nationality, so long as they're interested in making a community connection.

Like he says he's interested in seeing pockets set up in other cities. There's already plenty of good stuff going on in Jeollanam-do that might not necessarily fit under any umbrella organization. For example, last month I learned about a monthly Korean / foreigner dinner held in Gwangju, a meet-up going on for years. January's will meet on the 16th at 7:00 pm at the Starbucks downtown (map here, in Korean) and then move on to a restaurant. It was started by Lindsay Nash of Say Kimchi Recruiting, the Say Kimchi News, and the blog Kimchi and Cornbread. In an email interview with Chris in South Korea in August she wrote

After spending two years in Korea and LOVING every minute of it, I felt a calling to help others have the same experience. With my love for photography and writing, I could easily blend my talents into a new business to help attract others to what a great gig teaching in Korea really is. In our two years in Korea, Whit and I got really involved with the local foreigners. Community is very important to us, so we put together a monthly dinner where English-speaking Koreans and foreigners could get together and hang out, and started a newsletter for foreigners (www.saykimchirecruiting.com/newsletter).

In an email exchange with me she summed up the point of these get-togethers, which have attracted anywhere from ten to fifty people each time over the years:

It's a great chance to meet other expats in your community as well as English-speaking Koreans. Most chances we get to meet other foreigners is at the expat bars. And that's fine too. But this really gives you a chance to sit down across the table from someone who is usually a lot like you and have a nice dinner before you head to the bars/noraebang afterward. I met all my closest friends at these dinners.

Looking through the Facebook event page for December I haven't met any of the 15 people who signed up there. I won't be able to attend in January, I'd like to go in February, if I have the time and if I'm feeling up announcing exactly where I'll be for the benefit of those who want to punch me in the face. I can be cynical about recreational English practice, but I don't know if I'd be too cynical about good food and meeting people, Koreans and other expats alike. People interested in attending can RSVP on the Say Kimchi Recruiting Facebook page or by emailing lucy at saykimchirecruiting.com.

Creating a new consumer holiday for November 11th.

2008 Festivities in Seoul.

The Joongang Ilbo has an article about the push to replace Pepero Day, a Korean "holiday" each November 11th, alone the lines of the twelve consumer holidays that fall on the 14th each month.

Nov. 11 is known here as “Pepero Day,” when Lotte sells its many-flavored cookie sticks in gift packages for lovers, friends and family. Every year, sales get a boost because of the similarity between the shape of the stick and the date “11/11.”

But the sweet snacks have competition for the day, with the government trying the same marketing gimmick to promote garaetteok, Korea’s stick-shaped rice cakes.

The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries yesterday said it would hold events from today until Nov. 11, which it calls Garaetteok Day.

The events are targeted at raising domestic rice consumption.

Here's a look at the 가래떡데이 mascots:


Koreans like to celebrate, and I won't hold it against them for creating new opportunities to do so. I think the reason for such "holidays," aside from simply raising money for companies and industries, is to help relieve stress in the lives of people considered statistically among the least happy. And, when you take the monthly consumer holidays together with the rendering of Christmas as just another cutesy couples' day, it suggests that the traditional Korean holidays---with the traffic, the cooking, the obligations, and the dead people---simply aren't as fun.



More from 2008 (1, 2)

The Gwangju Kimchi Festival, and kimchi pop art.

I spent a few hours at the Gwangju Kimchi Cultural Festival (광주김치문화축제) on Wednesday. Actually, all the students at my school's Korean-language program were supposed to attend together, but those plans were cancelled on Wednesday morning because of swine flu worries. Apparently they anticipated more people at a festival on the outskirts of town on a Wednesday afternoon than on a crowded university campus. *cough* Anyway, it was especially quiet, and a very nice time.

The cabbage mascots were one of the highlights, seen here with a white guy photoshopped in.



They always travelled as a pair, chasing each other, fighting, proposing marriage, wrestling, and so on. I wonder if I can rent some for my next party. I took a short video, but once I started filming they stopped fighting.

It was a nice, quiet day at the festival site.







Inside the Bitgoeul Gymnasium, pictured above, is the Kimchi History & Culture Exhibition. Different varieties of kimchi, including some by award-winners, were on display.





Some kimchi art as well.




There was a fairly large collection, though it didn't photograph well. They had several exhibits inside, though most of the displays were in Korean. This one was close.



At the end of a hall was a small roulette wheel, and depending on which number you got you could try a sample of food from one of Gwangju's several sister cities. I got pork and sauerkraut from Germany.



Here comes the Kimchi Train.



The largest building on the grounds is Yeongju Gymnasium (영주종합체육관). Around the outside to the right was a number of food stalls and restaurants, while to the left were vendors selling local specialities, such as Shinan salt products or gulbi from Yeonggwang county.




The Kimchi Buffet Restaurant, like all the others in the middle of the afternoon, was empty. But if you go this weekend you can come here and . . . eat as much kimchi as you'd like.



The Turkish Kebab guys never miss a festival.



Inside the gymnasium were a number of vendors. It smelled like a subway car.






For especially big orders.



For 5,000 won you could of course make your own kimchi. This year they made it easier for photojournalists.



Photographers and visitors alike were largely absent on Wednesday. Here's another white guy photoshopped in.



It was all right, but a little disappointing because the head kimchi maker pretty much did everything. "First you have to mix the ingredients," he said. Then he mixed the ingredients. "Then you take the cabbage in your left hand and dab the sauce with your right." Then he took the cabbage in his left hand and dabbed the sauce with his right. I got to do a little bit, but I guess this way it guarantees it'll taste all right.

My favorite part, though, was behind the gymnasium and across from the park's swimming pool.



I like dioramas.







Inside the hall were dozens of posters about kimchi and the festival. Some were done by students, I learned, though some look like they were done by professionals. They were great.





Koreans' attempts at promoting their food and their culture overseas can appear quite aggressive, over-the-top, and ridiculous. Things like the "Kimchi Warrior" cartoon and the "Kimchi Love Festival" look kitsch to us, but I really don't think they were intended that way. These were probably not intended to be ironic as well, but they're both a commentary on the dish and its promotion, and I'll tell you what, if prints were available, or if they made t-shirts out of them, I'd certainly buy a ton. Much more palatable, pun sort of intended, than spokespeople telling us that kimchi prevents SARS, AIDS, and stab wounds, or government officials talking about Korean food invading and conquering foreign cultures, this was a nice, quirky way to promote a food that, to be honest, really won't find more than a niche market outside of Korea.









My apologies for the quality. I planned on cropping them for this post, but that would have taken forever. I asked some of the attendants in the hall where the posters came from, and what would be done with them after the festival, and they didn't know. They asked a couple of the student artists---high school or college, perhaps---and they said they would just be returned when the festival closes.

The festival is held next to Gwangju's World Cup Stadium, surrounded by a nice little park.





The festival runs through Sunday, November 1st. The World Cup Stadium is accessible by a few city buses. There are also shuttle buses to the Design Biennale, which stop between the stadium and the festival site; I'm not sure if shuttle buses run to the Kimchi Festival, but buses to the Bienalle leave at 10:20, 11:40, 14:30, 15:00, 16:20, and 17:40. I suspect the festival will be a lot more crowded this weekend, though if you're in the area it's worth checking out.