Anna Jiwon Park has been covering the politics at The Korea Times since the summer of 2024, when she joined the press pool for the Office of the President in Korea. Prior to that, she spent about five years reporting extensively on financial markets, regulatory authorities and the financial industry. She joined The Korea Times in 2019 after spending eight years as a broadcast journalist at Arirang TV, Korea’s leading global broadcaster, covering politics, defense and culture.
First lady highlights rise of K-food, K-culture in New York’s Koreatown
First lady Kim Hea Kyung looks over food on sale as she tours a grocery store in New York's Koreatown, Tuesday (local time). Joint Press Corps
By Anna J. Park
NEW YORK — First lady Kim Hea Kyung, accompanying President Lee Jae Myung on his visit in the U.S., toured New York’s Koreatown on Tuesday afternoon (local time), experiencing firsthand the growing popularity of Korean cuisine and culture.
According to the presidential office on Wednesday, Kim first stopped at a side dish shop that has been serving Koreatown for 25 years.
When the owner mentioned that gimbap (seaweed rice rolls) and japchae (stir-fried glass noodles) were among the best-selling Korean dishes, Kim praised his efforts.
“It seems gimbap has become especially popular after a movie featured a scene of someone eating a whole roll. Food is such an important part of culture, and these days K-food is gaining global attention. Thank you for helping to share such an important part of Korean food culture,” she told the shop owner.
She was referring to a scene from the Netflix animated film “KPop Demon Hunters,” in which the protagonist eats an uncut roll of gimbap.
Kim added, “Once people get used to a cuisine, it’s hard to let it go,” expressing gratitude to the shop owner for promoting Korean food culture for so many years.
First lady Kim Hea Kyung browses "KPop Demon Hunters” merchandise at a bookstore in New York's Koreatown, Tuesday (local time). Joint Press Corps
She then visited another retailer in Koreatown, where she purchased instant tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes). Upon hearing from the manager that Korean side dishes were the store’s top-selling products, Kim expressed surprise.
Later, she stopped by a Koreatown bookstore and told the owner, “Running a bookstore here in New York, you must be seeing the K-pop wave firsthand.”
The bookstore owner agreed. “With the success of 'KPop Demon Hunters' and Han Kang’s Nobel Prize win, the popularity of Korean culture has surged. Sales of books for learning Korean and study guides for the Korean language proficiency test have skyrocketed.”