The logo for “Taste Your Korea,” a new gourmet tourism brand jointly run by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization. [MINISTRY OF CULTURE, SPORTS AND TOURISM]
The South Korean government has launched a national gastronomy tourism brand to systematically promote the region’s gastronomic culture overseas, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced in a press release on Wednesday.
The brand, jointly conceived by the Ministry of Culture and the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), is named “Taste Your Korea” and features 33 dishes in three categories: regional cuisine, regional ingredients and regional drinks. Dishes include dwaeji gukbap (pork soup with rice) from Busan, wangalbi (large marinated spare ribs) from Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, oysters from Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, clams from Hongseong County, South Chungcheong Province, soju from Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, and makgeolli (rice wine) from Yangpyeong County, Gyeonggi Province.
A map introducing 33 local gourmet foods selected under the government’s new gourmet tourism brand “Taste Your Korea” [MINISTRY OF CULTURE, SPORTS AND TOURISM]
“Taste Your Korea” falls under the umbrella of a larger tourism brand, “Imagine Your Korea,” run by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization. Through this new food tourism label, the Ministry of Culture hopes to develop local food tourism businesses from one that focuses on promoting and commercializing individual dishes and ingredients to one that creates more proactive and integrated travel content featuring storytelling.
Kim Geun-ho, director-general of the tourism industry policy bureau at the Ministry of Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, said in a press release, “Through new gourmet tourism brands and 33 representative gourmet tourism items, we will actively discover and utilize gourmet tourism content that conveys not only the taste and beauty of Korean food but also delicious stories about it. We will strive to create experiences that satisfy the eyes, ears and palate of foreign tourists.”
Lee Jiang [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]
