UNSRC Korean Cultural Society

Benjamin Joinau

“The best of Korean cuisine is regional specialties,” says Benjamin Joinau, talking about doenjang jjigae or soybean paste stew he tasted recently in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province. The Frenchman has been traveling all over Korea since November last year, when he started his own show introducing Korean cuisine to English-speaking audiences in Korea and abroad, “Tasty Trail with Benjamin,” on Arirang TV.

The concept of the show — traveling far away from the stuffy studio — comes from Joinau’s belief that the core of Korean cuisine can be found in the provinces, not in Seoul. He made kimchi at the Haeinsa Temple in Hapcheon, South Gyeongsang Province, and had traditional bibimbap or rice with mixed vegetables in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province and temple food in Gangneung, Gangwon Province.

“I can’t forget this small restaurant in Gangwon Province. There were just a few side vegetable dishes, soybean paste stew and a bowl of rice. It was simple but so delicious. People think of fancy, fusion Korean dishes when hearing about Korean cuisine going global, but I believe the real stuff is in simple dishes you eat every day that are true to fundamentals,” he says.

During a doctorate program in anthropology at l’École des hautes études en sciences sociales (School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences), Joinau chose to teach in Korea in lieu of compulsory military service in 1994. He taught French and Latin for five years at École Française de Seoul and Hongik University.

It was Korean food that persuaded him to stay. He had become a fan as he made kimchi, soy sauce, soybean paste, and red pepper paste himself, and concocted dishes with vegetables from the mountains.

Yet initially he had a hard time getting used to it. “It was difficult for me to get used to the smell of sesame oil everywhere. I ate too much trying to get used to it for the first two or three months after I arrived in Korea. In the end, I got sick so I had to stop eating Korean food. But the problem was there weren’t many restaurants in Korea that served foreign food at the time. I had to start eating Korean food again in order not to starve. But from then on, I had no problem eating and digesting Korean food,” he recalls.

He now plans to publish a book about taking Korean cuisine to the world, comparing the history of Korean and Western cuisine and situating Korean food in a wider global context. He also wants to be more aggressive about the publishing house he set up in 1998, specializing on Korean culture.

“I set up a publisher with five French friends, and have published 12 translated books in French. We’re making guides and magazines about Korea. More Europeans take an interest in Korean culture, but there are not many readable books,” he says. In his fluent Korean, he adds, “It concerns me that books don’t sell well, but I do it all because of the emotional attachment I feel to Korea.”

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	A scene from the film “Haeundae,” directed by Yoon Je-kyoon. The film was supported in part by a government fund for creative content. Provided by CJ Entertainment

Korea’s tsunami blockbuster “Haeundae” set last year’s biggest box-office record with a total of 11.5 million viewers. It is also one of the highest grossing films in Korean history. But it could not have made those accomplishments without the help of government funds, according to the film’s director Yoon Je-kyoon.

For those filmmakers, drama, game, animation and computer graphics producers who find it difficult to find investors, Korea’s Culture Ministry said last week it will commit 100 billion won ($87 million) by 2012 to support various projects in the cultural content sector.

To fund the projects, the government plans to create what it calls a “fund of funds.” Under the plan, the government will contribute to a specially-created fund, rather than investing directly in shares, bonds or other securities. The fund will then be allocated to support other projects.

As of this month, the Culture Ministry has invested a combined 170 billion won for movies, television dramas and games since the investment tool was launched in 2006. Of the total amount, 48.6 percent has been set aside for films.

Yoon, the Haeundae director, said earlier that the fund is like “a lifeline for content creators.”

The film received 7.4 billion won in government funding, and earned an estimated return of up to 40 percent.

Other recent Korean films such as “Take Off” and “My Girlfriend is an Agent,” both of which were also successful at the box office, were also produced with the help of the government fund and their returns stand at over 50 percent, respectively, according to ministry data.

Musicals including “Three Musketeers,” “Jekyll & Hyde,” and “Phantom of the Opera” were also beneficiaries of the fund.

“Due to the nature of the content industry, which has fewer chances at success, the pace of investment has not been brisk, even though the money is there,” Culture Minister Yu In-chon said in a press briefing.

The ministry also plans to provide loans of up to 3 billion won per project, with no requirement for collateral. But it has also devised a set of quality control measures: Content providers who have received warnings from the Korea Communications Standards Commission for negative content or who are believed to have “degraded the dignity of the nation with low quality content” will be disqualified from funding for a specific period of time. The ministry did not elaborate on its criteria for “degrading content.”

Despite the positive reception for the government’s funding initiative, there has been criticism that it is overly focused on film projects. To address these concerns, the ministry intends to allocate 40 billion won to television dramas and 15 billion won to computer graphics and 3-D projects, out of the 100 billion won it plans to set aside for cultural content.

Last year, the revenue earned by Korean content providers grew 4.2 percent from the previous year to 68 trillion won. The gaming industry’s revenue also jumped 25.6 percent year-on-year, largely due to game exports totaling $1.5 billion, according to the ministry.

By Seo Ji-eun [spring@joongang.co.kr]

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JoongAng Daily

Korean director Park Chan-ok’s “Paju” has been named as the opening film of the 2010 International Film Festival Rotterdam, which is set to open tomorrow. Provided by MK Pictures

Eight Korean films have been invited to the 2010 International Film Festival Rotterdam set to open in the Dutch city tomorrow, including Park Chan-ok’s “Paju,” earlier named as the festival opener.

According to the event’s Web site, “Moscow” by Whang Cheol-mean and “Mother” by Bong Joon-ho will be screened in its Spectrum section dedicated to established filmmakers worldwide. Moscow tells the story of two former school friends who reunite years later on opposite ends of the social ladder. Mother presents a poignant drama about a mother who goes to extremes to save her mentally ill son, accused of being a murderer.

In its Bright Future section on novice filmmakers, the festival will present “elbowroom” by Ham Kyoung-rock, “Cafe noir” by critic-turned-director Jung Sung-il, “Eighteen” by Jang Kun-jae, “Possessed” by Lee Yong-ju and “Running Turtle” by Lee Yeon-woo.

The festival earlier announced that “Paju” will open the event, with festival director Rutger Wolfson praising it as a “triumph of resilience and a powerful female voice from Asia, ambitious and intimate at the same time.”

The second feature by female director Park portrays modern Korean society through the eyes of a young woman, set in the industrial border town of Paju - a longtime military garrison and now a developing urban hub located close to the inter-Korean border.

*The festival takes place from Jan. 27 to Feb. 7.

Yonhap

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