Chicken dishes give wings to Chuncheon tourism, fuel local economy
Patrons at Jangho Dakgalbi in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, enjoy grilled barbecue chicken, Friday. Courtesy of KORAIL Tourism Development
K-Chicken Belt bets on city's famed gastronomy
CHUNCHEON, Gangwon Province — Famous for its stir-fried and grilled chicken dish, known in Korean as dakgalbi, Chuncheon has long drawn visitors from across the country to its local eateries. The city is now putting that culinary appeal at the center of the government’s fledgling initiative to revitalize domestic tourism by linking local food with popular tourist attractions.
In June, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced "K-Chicken Belt," a vetted list of 552 restaurants and venues in 30 cities known for chicken dishes. As the city representing dakgalbi in the program, Chuncheon and KORAIL Tourism Development have jointly launched a tourism package featuring the city’s famed foods, traditional liquors, sightseeing destinations and local experience spots. The Korea Food Promotion Institute under the ministry is organizing the program.
The package, available for a limited period in October through KORAIL's tourism package online sale platform, includes meals of dakgalbi, grilled barbecue chicken, makguksu (buckwheat noodles), fine-dining restaurants and a pub dedicated to dishes using natural ingredients grown in Chuncheon and surrounding Gangwon Province. Tours to traditional liquor breweries, Samaksan Mountain Lake Cable Car and the National Center for Forest Activities are also part of the program.
The package offers a one-day program on Oct. 16 and two-day programs on Oct. 23-24 and Oct. 30-31, each for a limited number of participants. Reservations were fully booked as of Friday, just one day after sales opened on the KORAIL website. After the trial programs are completed, the ministry plans to transfer the operating rights to the Chuncheon city government so the package can be developed into a local tourism business.
A sojugori distills Hwajeonilchwi soju at Jisiul Brewery in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, Thursday. Courtesy of KORAIL Tourism Development
Since the launch of the K-Chicken Belt, Chuncheon has moved faster than other regions famous for chicken dishes to develop a tourism package built around its local gastronomy. Gumi in North Gyeongsang Province, Suwon in Gyeonggi Province and Jeju Island have also begun preparing similar tourism programs featuring their own local specialties, but those initiatives are still under development.
“K-Chicken Belt was originally planned to be launched in 2032. But after confirming that Korean chicken was the de facto No.1 Korean food among foreigners' must-eat list in a survey last year, we realized the project’s significance and decided to launch it early,” the ministry said, referring to a survey jointly conducted by the ministry and the food promotion institute.
“Gastronomy is one of the proven indicators of any advanced nation. Nowadays, consumers willingly open their wallets for worthy experiences and original foods are one of their targets. The authentic and original tastes of Chuncheon are definitely something to meet those expectations,” said Lee Gyu-min, president of the institute.
Participants in the Chuncheon gastronomic package can sample traditional rice wines, liqueurs and distilled spirits at Jisiul Brewery. CEO Yoo So-young learned traditional brewing from Park Rok-dam, president of the Korea Traditional Liquor Research Institute, who became famous for teaching BTS Jin and Theborn Korea CEO Paik Jong-won about brewing. The ministry named the brewery one of Chuncheon’s local tourism hot spots last year.
Visitors to Gamja Island in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, enjoy craft beers, fried chicken and pizza, Thursday. Courtesy of KORAIL Tourism Development
Yoo makes her liquors using traditional tools such as a sojugori, a Korean clay distiller, and earthenware, along with locally sourced water, flowers and rice. She applies those traditional methods to create wine and soju varieties suited to modern tastes.
“Tradition vanishes if it remains stagnant. It must evolve,” she said.
Hosu Brewery is another local liquor spot where traditional wine-making and fine dining experiences take place under one roof. CEO Choi Kyeong-ja said that while the city’s history of traditional wines is relatively short, her brewery, built seven years ago, is one of the oldest local traditional wine crafters. She also showcases dishes that pair well with the wines, over 70 percent of which are made with local ingredients.
Gamja Island is a modern pub in downtown Chuncheon, renovated from an old church. Co-CEO Ahn Hong-june said the idea for the business came in 2019, when he saw local farmers dumping potatoes after a bumper harvest sent prices plunging.
He began looking for creative ways to use local produce, eventually developing 16 craft beers, along with pizzas and fried chicken made with potatoes and other locally grown vegetables, such as tomatoes, carrots and cucumbers.
“About 70 percent of the harvested potatoes were thrown out back then. I wanted to fix the problem, so I started this business in 2021 by remodeling the shutdown church built 35 years ago. We have recently landed a trade deal to export our beers to a distributor in China,” he said.