Chinese firm promises to 'return' for beer party in S. Korea next year

A Chinese company has promised to have an employee reward trip to Incheon on South Korea's west coast again for the next two years, the city's government said Wednesday, after this year's trip involving thousands of workers drew wide media attention.

Incheon Metropolitan Government said it signed an agreement on business cooperation with China's Aolan International Beauty Group, or Aurance Group, Tuesday, making it the destination for an annual employee reward trip until 2018.

The cosmetics and health supplements company based in the south China province of Guangzhou became the talk of the town in South Korea on Monday after it sent some 4,500 workers to a chicken-and-beer party on Wolmi Island off the western port city of Incheon, organized by the local government.

They were part of a 6,500-strong group of employees and valued customers from the company who are on a week-long tour of Incheon and Seoul that started Sunday. They were the single largest group of tourists to ever arrive in Korea by plane.

The "chimaek" party was for fans of the mega-hit South Korean TV series "My Love from the Star." Incheon has many filming locations for the 21-episode romantic comedy about an actress and her extraterrestrial boyfriend.

The show, which also became a sensation in China, has increased Chinese viewers' interest in "chimaek," a Korean slang term for chicken ("chi") and beer ("maek or "maekju"), as it was described in the drama by the female lead played by actress Jun Ji-hyun as what to eat when it snowed.

The Chinese tourists' itinerary also included visits to the show's filming locations in the city.

"We thank the South Korean government, Mayor of Incheon Yoo Jeong-bok and the Korean people who gave us warm hospitality," Guo Chenglin, chairman of the group, said after signing the agreement.

Incheon's city authority says it aims to make the city the main venue for Chinese firms' employee reward trips with the signing.

"We made full efforts to help Chinese tourists have a pleasant and safe trip in Incheon and to be impressed," Yoo said, vowing to cement more cooperation projects with China. (Yonhap)