Nanro Foundation hosts global hansik symposium ‘Nanro Insight’
Chair Choi Jung-yoon: “Korean cuisine must raise its value and expand its reach.”
“I want us to be an accelerator so hansik continues for 50, for 100 years to come. I will work to connect Korean-food professionals with other industries so they are not alone, and to brighten the future of Korean cuisine.” (Choi Jung-yoon, chair of Nanro Foundation)
Nanro Foundation held the global hansik symposium “Nanro Insight” at Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul’s Yongsan District on April 29. The foundation is a nonprofit society working to advance industrialization, research and next-generation talent development for Korean cuisine. It began in 2022 as a community bringing Korean chefs, popular restaurant owners and experts from various sectors together, and has since grown into a leading hansik-industry gathering, with around 300 people participating across some 40 sessions.
In November last year, it was registered as a nonprofit society, moving beyond a simple community to pursue hansik talent development and global exchange. It is led by chef Choi Jung-yoon, head chef of Sempio’s Woorimat Research Center and Korea-China vice chair of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants (W50B).
The day’s theme was “The Future of Gastronomy: Speaking of Hansik.” Sessions covered the aesthetics and branding of traditional Korean cuisine, cases of successful innovation and hansik’s global growth potential. “This is the moment to think about how Korean cuisine can take its place as a global culture,” Choi said. “Over the last two years, more than 300 experts from a wide range of fields have grappled with hansik together.”
As hansik’s standing rises, so does the importance of global branding. International outlets such as The New York Times now cover Korean food routinely. Korean restaurants regularly appear on major global awards lists. Overseas celebrities post videos of themselves eating Korean food on social media, and foreign travelers keep coming to Korea for the food.
The government is paying attention too. In February, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced its “Strategy to Strengthen the Global Competitiveness of the Korean-Food Industry.” Fifteen years after the first hansik-globalization initiative, the government plans to grow the industry from about 152 trillion won in 2021 to some 300 trillion won by 2027. It also aims to develop 15,000 Korean restaurants abroad and about 100 Michelin-tier “star Korean restaurants.”
Chair Choi stressed that hansik’s “value” must be raised. “First, we need to raise the value of hansik itself; second, we need to make scale-up a reality,” she said. “Rather than one restaurant or one bowl of food at a time, we need to build businesses that let a wide range of people enjoy hansik anywhere.”
She then named “connect,” the value Nanro Foundation pursues, as a key idea. “In any single industry, you keep meeting people from the same industry. What Nanro pursues is meeting people from other industries,” she said. “I believe the answer is in the process of connecting hansik with all kinds of other industries.”
Leading Korean restaurants also contributed. Cho Eun-hee, executive chef of Onjium, said, “With the goal of raising 100 chefs, we sent young chefs abroad and helped them open restaurants. Our goal was to grow a young generation that can truly cook hansik.” She added, “Through Nanro I will keep studying Korean cuisine and working to become a chef who presents our food properly.”
· Original (Korean): news.heraldcorp.com
