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Global influencers fan out across Korea to spotlight hidden culinary gems
Visitors sample local delicacies at the Seoul Food & Hotel 2026 exhibition at KINTEX in Goyang, June 9. Yonhap
By Lee Kyung-min
For the millions of international travelers drawn to Korea by the global ascent of its cultural exports, the culinary itinerary rarely extends beyond the neon-lit barbecue joints of Seoul or the ubiquitous presence of packaged kimchi.
But Korean tourism officials are betting that the future of the country’s travel boom lies far outside the capital — hidden in the bubbling cauldrons of provincial tofu houses and the centuries-old fermentation vats of the rural south.
The state-run Korea Tourism Organization launched an aggressive initiative Tuesday, aimed at transforming hyperlocal regional cuisine into the next global lifestyle trend. The agency invited 33 prominent food and travel influencers from 13 countries to Samcheonggak, a traditional cultural complex in northern Seoul, to inaugurate "K-Local Food Hunters 33," a coordinated, multiday culinary expedition spanning the Korean peninsula.
The strategy relies heavily on the digitized word of mouth.
The selected participants, hailing from major tourism markets across Greater China, Japan, Southeast Asia, Europe and the Americas, wield a formidable collective digital footprint, boasting a combined social media following of approximately 21.3 million.
Before departing the capital, the influencers underwent an immersive orientation into the country’s food culture, participating in a culinary masterclass to recreate dishes popularized globally by Korean television dramas. The itinerary also featured a stop at a traditional tea house in Seoul’s historic Bukchon neighborhood and a curated tasting of contemporary Korean fried chicken at Kyochon Pilbang.
The cohort fractured into three specialized teams, dispersing into the provinces of Gangwon, Jeolla, and Gyeongsang to document distinct regional flavor profiles that remain largely opaque to foreign audiences.
One group traveled to the mountainous, coastal terrain of Gangwon Province to sample Chodang sundubu, a delicate, silky tofu curdled using pristine seawater. A second team headed into the southwestern Jeolla region, an area widely recognized by domestic purists as the country's culinary soul, to explore traditional fermentation arts. The third contingent explored the southeastern Gyeongsang region, spotlighting the hearty pork-rice broths that define the coastal metropolis of the southeastern port city of Busan.
The targeted campaign is designed to anchor these culinary experiences within broader cultural geographies, routing the influencers through major historical landmarks including the Jeonju Hanok Village and the Hahoe Folk Village in Andong. By shifting the international gaze toward these hyperlocal, seasonal specialties, officials hope to convert general cultural curiosity into actual regional foot traffic.
"To convert global enthusiasm for K-food into actual visits to our provinces, international travelers need concrete, localized itineraries," said Min Byung-sun, the executive director of the tourism organization’s Tourism Industry Division. "By weaving together regional gastronomy and local heritage, we plan to broaden the global definition of Korean cuisine."
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.