Korea ranks below China, Thailand in food globalization

By Lee Hyo-sik

Korea has spent tens of millions of dollars over the years to turn its cuisine, ``hansik,’’ into one of the world’s most beloved foods among global diners. But a latest survey shows that its efforts have come to no fruition with the nation’s food still rated well below other Asian cuisines.

It paid TV broadcasters in Europe and the United States to air a series of documentaries on various Korean dishes to increase their awareness among Westerners. Foreign newspapers and magazines have also carried stories on what Koreans eat.

The government has even been offering foreigners free cooking classes at its cultural centers overseas and providing assistance to restaurants that serve the local cuisine.

However, the latest online survey found that the country has a long way to go before making hansik part of diets for people around the world.

The Hansik Globalization Bureau, a quasi-government body set up to publicize Korean food abroad, said Sunday that out of 12 national cuisines, hansik was the seventh most recognized food in the world, scoring 73.2 points out of 100.

In an online survey of 593 people in the United States and four European nations, Italy topped the list at 80.1 points, followed by Japan at 78.3, Spain at 76.7, China at 75.8 and Thailand at 75. Hansik was more recognized than Turkish (73.1), Malaysian (72.4), Vietnamese (72.3), German (71.9) and Indian (71.6) food.

The survey also pointed out that to globalize hansik, restaurants should improve its taste and upgrade its image with Westerners. It was also found that they need to lower prices, provide a cleaner dinning environment and improve customer services.

``In order to formulate the hansik globalization index, we carried out the latest online survey among Americans and Europeans about how aware they are of hansik,’’ an official at the Hansik Globalization Bureau said. ``The index will evaluate particular restaurants serving Korean dishes in terms of taste, image, price, customer service and dinning environment.’’

He said it is not realistic for the organization to catch up with Italian or Japanese cuisine in the near future. ``We will proceed with more concrete and realistic goals to make the world know more about hansik. We will aim to overtake Chinese or Thai foods in global awareness, rather than take on Italian or Japanese.’’

The official then said in the long term, hansik will become one of the world’s top five cuisines by 2017 if the government continues to make efforts to develop dishes suited for non-Koreans and upgrade its image.