By Do Je-hae
Staff Reporter

Australians are getting a taste of Korea this week as the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) launches its 'I Love Korean Food' campaign in the three cities―Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

The "JC Decaux Citylights" campaign will feature Korea's unique cuisine and give Australians the chance to win a trip to Korea for two to experience a taste of royal cuisine.

To enter the competition, contestants are urged to submit an entry at www.ilovekoreanfood.com.au naming three dishes on the table featured in the campaign's poster. The contest runs from March 22 through Aug. 31. The winner will be announced on Sept. 3.

The winner will receive a trip for two to Korea with return airfares, deluxe hotel accommodation for three nights and a dinner for two at one of Seoul's royal cuisine restaurants.

Korea has been eager to promote its food, or Hansik, through active overseas marketing this year, aiming for the kind of recognition and status that Japanese, Chinese or Thai food enjoy all over the world.

Korea has launched a "Global Hansik" campaign, initiating plans to create a 50 billion won fund and open Korean cooking classes at world-renowned culinary schools.

Under the program, the government plans to increase the number of Korean restaurants overseas to 40,000 by 2017 and promote the uniqueness and healthy nature of the food worldwide.

The Hansik Foundation was launched recently to better coordinate the food globalization campaign.

The foundation hopes to benchmark the successful example of the Organization to Promote Japanese Restaurants Abroad (JRO), a private organization that works closely with the Japanese food ministry for promoting Japanese foods and ingredients overseas.

There are currently 24,000 Japanese restaurants worldwide. Korea has around 10,000.

Some major food festival events are set to take place, like the Korea Food & Tourism Festival taking place in Jeonju from Oct. 21-27 and the Gwangju Kimchi Cultural Festival October 15-24.

jhdo@koreatimes.co.kr