UNSRC Korean Cultural Society

JoongAng Daily

	The owner of a tteok (Korean rice cake) shop in Ikuno-ku, a ward in Osaka, Japan, smiles for the camera. The town is noted for the large number of Korean-Japanese citizens living there and has become a popular local tourist destination since the hallyu, or Korean wave, began to spread after the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup. [YONHAP]

Korea’s male heartthrobs have made a series of successful moves into Hollywood in recent years. Singer and actor Rain has shot two movies - “Ninja Assassin” and “Speed Racer” - and 40-year-old film star Lee Byung-hun was featured in Stephen Sommers’ action flick “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.” Korean idol boy bands such as TVXQ, Big Bang and 2PM have risen to stardom across Asia, especially in Japan and many Southeast Asian countries.

This large-scale movement of Korean culture, widely dubbed by the local media as the Korean wave, or hallyu, can now be measured by a so-called “hallyu index,” which was devised by the Culture Ministry, in conjunction with the private Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange, last week.

“We developed the hallyu index to evaluate the response of overseas consumers to hallyu content,” said Shin Yong-seon, an official at the ministry’s cultural industry policy department. He said the index has given Korea a basis from which it can cater to Korean content consumers abroad with content designed specifically for them.

The index is based on a survey of 800 people from China, Taiwan, Japan and Vietnam and statistics on exports of Korean TV shows, movies, music and games. The survey was conducted only with those who have experienced at least one of the content categories.

In the year 2009, the hallyu had the greatest effect in Japan, which topped the list of countries surveyed with a score of 112, followed by Taiwan at 109, China at 101 and Vietnam at 100.

The survey was conducted only with people in those four countries, but the ministry plans to include more countries in the poll next year.

The ministry noted that the hallyu is estimated to have generated products valued at 4.9 trillion won in 2008, up 1.5 trillion won from the previous year. The 2008 figure is equivalent to the combined price of 240,000 Sonata midsize sedans from Hyundai Motor costing some 20 million won ($12,542). For reference, domestic sales of the Sonata totaled 146,326 last year.

“The hallyu is spreading across the globe, going beyond Asia. While the Korean wave has thus far generated quantitative growth, the top priority for its next leap is qualitative improvement,” said Shin of the Culture Ministry.

In a separate yet related move to promote the world’s 13th-largest economy, Korea’s Presidential Council on National Branding plans to take this year to revamp the national brand. This year is particularly crucial for Korea in that the country is hosting the Group of 20 summit in Seoul in November.

“Our top priorities for this year will be stepping up Official Development Assistance, dispatching volunteers abroad and launching a knowledge sharing program focused on economic development,” said the council in a statement.

At the time of its launch in January 2009, the state-run council unveiled five areas on which it will focus to raise awareness of Korea as a national brand: contribution to international society; promotion of cutting-edge technologies and goods; boosting culture and tourism; embracing multiculturalism and expatriates; and increasing Koreans’ consciousness of themselves as global citizens.

To accomplish its goals in these areas, the council also created 10 action plans, including wider promotion of taekwondo, a traditional Korean martial art.

However, not everyone seems to agree with the Korean government’s approach. Christopher Graves, global CEO of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, said at an international conference titled “Global Korea 2010” last Wednesday that placing taekwondo at the top of the action plan, and thus teaching foreigners the martial art, was “inappropriate.”

“You need to approach [global citizens] with emotion and stories,” he was quoted as saying by the council.

Euh Yoon-dae, the head of the council, said in response that the number of people practicing taekwondo is near 70 million worldwide and it is believed to be a useful way to generate positive sentiment toward Korea among people around the globe.

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

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KOREA TIMES
02-25-2010 20:52

Stir-fried rice cake slices With beef and mushrooms

By Kim Yong-ja

“Garaetteok” (rice cake) is abundant in the market around New Year’s Day. Cut all the vegetables the same length as the garatteok. This is a meal in itself, with or without a bowl of rice.

INGREDIENTS (serves 4)

• 8 oz/225g BEEF (rib eye or sirloin), cut 2″/5 cm long and into thin strips

• “BULGOGI” MARINADE

• VEGETABLE OIL

• 1 large CARROT, cut 2″/5 cm long and sliced thin

• 4 oz/113g SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS, sliced

• 1 lb/455g GARAETTEOK (rice cake)

• 1/4 cup WATER

• 2 medium SCALLIONS, cut 2″/5 cm long

• 1 heaping tablespoon PINE NUTS

• a pinch of “GOCHUGARU” (chili flakes) or “SILGOCHU” (dried chili thread)

1 Marinate the meat with 1?3 of the Bulgogi marinade.

2 Heat the frying pan, add a spoonful of oil and stir-fry carrots and mushrooms. Push them to the side before they become wilted. Cook the meat in the center of the pan. When the meat is almost done, push it also to the side.

3 Drizzle some more oil and spread the garaetteok (rice cake) at the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle 1/4 cup water over the garaetteok and cover the pan.

4 When the garaetteok are softened, add scallion and the rest of the marinade. Mix and adjust the seasoning. Sprinkle gochugaru (chili flakes) and pine nuts before serving.

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JoongAng Daily

	Dakjuk, or chicken porridge, is the specialty of a small village in Seongnam, Gyeonggi. Provided by the Korea Tourism Organization

Not all dakjuk, or chicken porridge, tastes the same. That’s the message of the dozens of restaurants clustered in Namhansanseong, a small village in Seongnam, Gyeonggi.

The original “Chicken Porridge Village” sat right at the foot of the Mount Namhan Fortress that gives the village its name. Starting in the 1970s, its old-fashioned Korean homes, with families living off wild vegetables, rice and, of course, the eggs and meat of domestic chickens, gradually became a big draw for tourists eager to get away from the Seoul rush and step back in time for a day.

In fact, so many visitors started coming to the village on the weekends that many families began converting their living rooms into restaurants.

With no fixed prices - pay whatever you can, mister! - these modest home establishments were a big hit. So big that their matron-chefs needed a dish that they could serve to many people at the same time. That’s when someone struck upon chicken porridge as the perfect specialty. The idea spread, and soon restaurants serving the dish flooded the village.

According to some of these chefs, Namhansanseong’s chickens are so muscular and strong, from half-flying, half-running around the steep mountain passes nearby, they require a longer boiling time to cook - three to four hours compared to just an hour for a Seoul bird. Whether that’s true or not, the practical side effect of the longer cooking time is a richer broth that separates Namhansanseong’s dish from every other place in Korea.

When, in 1998, developers bought up the land from under the “chicken porridge village,” threatening to end the happy clucking of poultry and patrons alike, Seongnam City Hall took action, providing the restauranteurs with a new plot of land, full of traditional Korean hanok homes, across the main road in Dandae-dong. The new village still draws at least 3,000 tourists a day during the peak season.

Namhansanseong’s dakjuk, like varieties from other regions, is served with a whole chicken stuffed with glutinous rice and ginseng. But local varieties also include several herbal ingredients, added to give a special kick to the thick soup.

Though traditionally eaten during the summer (it’s said hot food helps the body sweat out toxins), visitors enjoy its warming effects on a winter’s day too, since the dish is popular among Koreans for its minor curative properties.

By Yim Seung-hye Contributing writer [estyle@joongang.co.kr]

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