Kim Rahn is the managing editor of The Korea Times. Since joining the company in 2003, she has covered various beats including the presidential office, Seoul city government, the Bank of Korea and the tourism industry. In 2014, she won the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) award for her coverage of the ordeals of migrant women in Korea.
Raw octopus most alluring Korean food for foreigners
By Kim Rahn
Sliced raw octopus
By Kim Rahn
Foreign tourists to Korea most want to try “sannakji,” or sliced raw octopus, a survey showed Monday.
The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) announced the survey result conducted of 944 followers of the organization's foreign-language social media channels in late November. Participants were asked to choose which of Korea's lesser-known dishes they'd most like to eat.
In the survey, 26 percent picked sannakji, which is a popular dish in Korea but may come as a shock to those unfamiliar with food that's still moving. In recent years it has become a kind of challenge for foreign tourists to try the dish during their visits to Korea.
Another 14.6 percent picked “ganjang gejang” (crab marinated in soy sauce), followed by 14.2 percent choosing “sundae” (Korean blood sausage), 10.3 percent wanting “hongeo” (fermented stingray), 7.7 percent for “yukhoe” (raw beef) and 6.7 percent “cheonggukjang” (fast fermented soybean paste, usually eaten as a stew).
“These foods are exotic and unfamiliar to foreign tourists compared to widely known ones such as bibimbap and bulgogi,” said Je Sang-weon, director of the KTO's international smart tourism team.
“We plan to make clips to introduce these foods and places to eat them, and promote them via YouTube, so visitors to Korea can enjoy more diverse Korean foods and spread their experience to others via social media.”