Korean Cuisine Masters: "Korean Food Gains Global Interest but Still Has a Long Way to Go"

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jeong] At the second season of the national development project, 'Sikja Hoi Dam,' hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, sharp criticisms from Korean cuisine (Hansik) masters regarding the Hansik industry poured out. Despite the growing global popularity of Hansik, more effort is needed to industrialize Korean cuisine.

Hansik Masters: "Disappointed with Workforce Training, Corporate Investment, Policy Support, Logistics & Distribution, and Industrial Structure"

On the 6th, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry revealed discussions from 'National Development Project: Sikja Hoi Dam,' where chefs with 40 years of frontline experience shared their insights on the problems of industrializing Hansik.

Chef Kwon Woo-jung, owner chef of Michelin 2-star 'Kwon Sook Soo,' said, "I usually avoid TV appearances, but I appeared because many people are unaware of the reality of the Hansik industry." Star chef Lee Won-il also said, "I came here really determined today," adding, "I have many thoughts from working on the ground, and I will share them all."

Chef Jo Hee-sook, known as the chef of chefs and the godmother of Hansik, stated, "The extinction crisis of Hansik chefs is a problem," pointing out that workforce training is a major obstacle to the industrialization of Hansik. Chef Jo said, "Even 30 to 40 years ago, there was a labor shortage when cooking, and now there are still no people on site," questioning, "If people have not been nurtured all this time, isn't there a fundamental problem with talent development?" According to one survey, only 23% of students majoring in 'Culinary Science/Culinary Arts' in the food and dining sector prefer jobs in the Hansik field. The reasons for not choosing Hansik include "not suited to aptitude" (43.8%), "high work intensity" (13.7%), and "poor prospects" (4.9%).

The chefs also discussed establishing educational institutions to train Hansik chefs, similar to Le Cordon Bleu and Ferrandi Culinary School. While they generally agreed on the need for Hansik education institutions, they concurred that traditional vocational school formats lack effectiveness.

Meanwhile, Chef Kwon Woo-jung said, "Investment in Hansik restaurants has become extinct," emphasizing that capital inflow through investment is necessary for innovation in the industrial structure and upgrading Hansik. He suggested that if companies invest in chefs as individual creators, just as they do in sports and arts, the industrialization of Hansik could be accelerated.

Chef Lee Won-il pointed out, "The disappointing aspect of Hansik restaurant industrialization is national policy," lamenting that support policies and promotional methods for overseas Hansik restaurants are too focused on short-term aid. He stressed that someone must take the lead in the Hansik industry and pursue a long-term, steady development strategy.

The chef panel also deeply discussed structural issues in the Hansik restaurant business (low profit margins, labor costs), improving perceptions of Hansik, ingredient supply, and training professional servers.

Businessperson Panel: "Hansik Industrialization Scores 3 out of 10... Much More Work to Do"

Business guests appearing on ‘National Development Project: Sikja Hoi Dam’ said there is still much to be done in the industrialization of Hansik. They rated the current industrialization of Hansik at 3 out of 10.

Only Kim Jung-su, Vice Chairman of Samyang Foods, gave a score of 5 to encourage the start, while Kim Sook-jin, Group Head of CJ CheilJedang, gave 2 points, noting, "Koreans eat non-Hansik foods at least 1-2 times a week, but people in other countries do not eat Hansik that often." Lee Myung-wook, CEO of SPC Paris Croissant, also gave 3 points, saying, "We are just taking the first steps."

Foreigners appearing in episode 2 also said that improving Hansik’s spelling, ingredient supply, storytelling, and visuals could increase its popularity. They added that although K-pop and K-culture accelerated Hansik’s explosive popularity, marketing relying on the Korean Wave should be abandoned.

Seoul Jung-gu Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry. / Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

An Industrial Approach to Hansik Is Needed to Sustain Global Interest... A Channel for Industry Opinions to Be Established

Summarizing the voices of experts working on the ground, strategies and approaches to nurture and develop Hansik as an industry are still insufficient. Despite the soaring popularity of Hansik, it remains unindustrialized and unstructured, resulting in low overall productivity, according to experts. This is why the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry distinguishes between ‘globalization of Hansik’ and ‘industrialization’ and leads efforts toward the industrialization of Hansik.

In fact, the domestic dining industry is a representative sector lacking industrialization. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, as of 2020, there were 800,000 dining businesses in Korea, accounting for 13.3% of all industries, but their sales amounted to 140 trillion won, only 2.1% of all industries. Moreover, most are small-scale businesses (84.6%), and the 5-year survival rate is only 20.1%, indicating frequent closures. To increase productivity, it is necessary to improve the industrial structure, foster food tech, and activate R&D.

The government has recognized these issues and plans to invest 900 billion won over the next five years to develop the dining industry as a future growth sector. The recently announced 'Dining Industry Innovation Measures' include specific goals such as nurturing 10 food tech unicorns and establishing about 5,000 overseas dining outlets.

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry stated, "The upcoming 5th and 6th episodes will focus on finding solutions to the many issues raised so far," adding, "Following this Sikja Hoi Dam, we plan to open a channel to gather opinions from related industries for the industrialization of Hansik."

Meanwhile, 'Sikja Hoi Dam,' promoted as part of the national development project by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is broadcast nationwide through SBS. Past episodes can be viewed on the SBS website or Wavve. The broadcast time is Tuesday at 11:30 PM, with two episodes remaining.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.