Leader behind global growth of Buldak instant noodles visits Coachella

Kim Jung-soo, vice chair of Samyang Roundsquare, poses at Samyang Foods' booths at 2025 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California, Friday / Courtesy of Samyang Foods

Samyang Roundsquare CEO and Vice Chair Kim Jung-soo, best known for her role in the global success of Samyang's Buldak instant noodles, visited the 2025 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival as part of its mission to grow the instant noodle brand into the world's top hot sauce brand.

According to Samyang Roundsquare, the parent company of Samyang Foods, on Monday, Kim visited the world-renowned festival in California to support their promotional events for music fans.

Samyang set up six booths at Coachella this year dedicated to promoting not only Buldak instant noodles but also its new Buldak sauce.

Kim visited the user experience-oriented booths and tasted foods paired with Buldak sauce, Samyang said. The company said she also met with festival organizers and visitors.

Samyang Foods signed an official partnership with Coachella, and is currently serving as the exclusive partner for the festival’s instant noodle and sauce category during the event, which began Friday and runs until Sunday.

Samyang has introduced a new campaign phrase, “Rocket Hot, Ride the Buldak High,” to launch Buldak sauce products for this year's event. The booths sought to draw public interest in the product via QR codes that direct visitors to the company’s online interactive packages.

The company said global artists, celebrities and other participants have crowded the booths during the first week of the festival, showing interest in the spicy sauce.

"Vice Chair Kim’s visit to the U.S. marks the first step to grow Buldak into the world's No. 1 hot sauce brand, by promoting the brand's excellence to a global audience attending Coachella,” said Kim Nam-sook, Samyang Foods’ head of Buldak promotion.

"Vice Chair Kim believes in the value of directly engaging with staffers and customers, and she will continue to visit the field whenever necessary to drive the brand’s growth."