Promoting Korean Cuisine with Swear Words? Controversy Over Italian Asian Restaurant's Advertisement

Korean Swear Words Used on Palermo Restaurant's Social Media
"Concerns Over Distorted Image of Korean Cuisine"

Promotional video created by an Asian restaurant in Italy using Korean profanity. Professor Seo Kyungduk

An Asian restaurant in Italy is facing criticism for promoting Korean cuisine using Korean swear words.

On December 5, Professor Seo Kyungduk of Sungshin Women's University stated, "After receiving reports from Koreans residing in Italy, I checked and found that the restaurant had recently posted a video on its social media featuring Korean swear words such as 'ssiX', and was even running advertisements with it."

This restaurant, located in Palermo-the capital and largest city of Sicily-offers a variety of Korean dishes such as Korean-style fried chicken and tteokbokki, as well as other Asian foods.

Professor Seo pointed out, "Riding the Korean Wave, locals across Europe are opening Korean restaurants one after another. No matter how popular Korean cuisine has become worldwide, promoting it in this manner is truly inappropriate."

He expressed concern, saying, "The Korean sentences in the video are completely ungrammatical, and especially, the use of Korean swear words could cause serious misunderstandings among foreigners."

He added, "Recently, when a new Korean restaurant opened in Romania and used the Rising Sun Flag, a symbol of Japanese militarism, protests led to its removal. I will also immediately protest this case to ensure it is corrected."

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