[Joonang Daily] Raising Korean Food Artisans Who Speak Foreign Languages
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- Writer 총관리자
- 보도일자 2009-09-01
Han Young-sil, President of Sookmyung Women`s University, presented a key solution to globalize Korean Foods. In a brief interview, she stated, “we should go through several steps as we go out with the opposite sex to inform foreigners of Korean foods.”
“Globalizing Korean Foods as we go out with someone.”
This is the key solution to globalize Korean foods suggested by Han Young-sil, President of Sookmyung Women’s University, in the interview for her one year anniversary of assumption of office on the 1st of next month.
At your first date, you don’t just hold a hand. Everything has steps. What matters for us is to have foreigners become blind to Korean foods step by step as they fall in love.
Her steps to have foreigners fall in love with Korean Foods are like this. Firstly, introduce interesting stories about Korean foods. Then, impress them by taking good care of them with dishes and menu. She also shared her personal experience over the steps with us.
“A foreign friend of mine who had never neared brown seaweeds or laver impelled to eat them out of curiosity, when I told her that one of elixirs of life that Emperor Qin Shi Huang (the First Emperor of China) had looked was Ascidiacea as those brown seaweeds and laver.
She also introduced a cold under dried ginseng dish as the secret of King Youngjo’s long life, and a seasoned leak dish as the secret of Emperor Huizong (Chinese Song Dynasty’s 8th emperor.) She argues that this strategy actually works effectively. A few months ago President Han dined with a female Philippine minister. When the minister went back to her country, she praised Korean foods to President Gloria Arroyo of the Philippines. President Arroyo sent an autograph letter to thank President Han for the book on Korean foods written and given by President Han as a present.
She was quite excited about globalization of Korean foods. Indeed, she has been silently helping the globalization of it.
Since graduate school she has studied Hanksik, and took the lead to establish the institute for Korean Food(Hanksik) in 2000 when she was a professor. Now the center has settled down as a spot to diffuse Korean food. The center also has helped to elevate the beauty of Korean food to many countries including France.
“My professor scolded me when I clarified that I would major in Korean food at graduate school. Korean food was not regarded as an academic field at that time.”
She said she was glad to see growing interests in Korean food and the reverse of attitude towards it. “Korean food has boundless potentialities to be popular. A few days ago, I saw my daughter bring Vietnamese Spring Rolls home. Our Gujeolpan(an elaborate Korean dish consisting of nine different foods) can become as popular as the Spring Roll.”
However, she was quite critical about the recent globalization movement of Korean food. “There seems to be only a slogan for it. People don’t have the definite concept of Korean food and specific goal they want to achieve.” She was also concerned that it would be more like a single shot.
“Globalizing Korean food looks good, but it appears to me that people try to arrange flowers which will be wilted soon. To globalize Korean food, we should work on farming not on flower arrangement. ”
She compared the process of globalizing Korean food to farming. She emphasized that we should spend a long time to pick the fertile land and good seeds to farm ‘globalization of Korean food.’ To achieve it, she schemed out a new program called ‘Star Chef Training Program for Korean Foods.’ The program is a joint project with Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Through the program, Sookyung is planning to instruct talents who have experience of Korean foods or have studied it not only technical know-how for Korean food but also sprits and cultures that dwell in Korean foods.
“Our goal is raising a Korean food artisan not a workman.” We will educate students to speak foreign languages as well so that they will lead culture diffusion of Korean food, Korean culture, and our brand.
President Han has a greater ambition. She goes a step further from Korean food. She intends to let the world know about Korea. She founded the Center of Korean Culture and information after one year of her inauguration as a president. It was her ambitious plan to introduce Korean tradition, history, and tourists’ spots along with Korean foods. She stated “I believe if we polish Korean culture with a spirit of artisanship, it will soon create an appeal to the world.”