Globalization of the Korean Food

Every nation has a unique culture that defines it. It includes their belief, practices, and way of life. Consequently, they desire to propagate their lifestyle and traditions to other parts of the world.  For instance, the United States has been doing well in perpetuating their western culture among many nations in the developing regions. The need for globalization of the Korean food remains a fundamental part of Korea. In essence, it is because there has been a global criticism of Korean meals. Most people consider their meals to have pungent and strong tastes that are not attractive to them. The Korean government also has a desire to see their cuisine enrolled among the top five globally popular ethnic meals by 2017. Moreover, the Korean state believes that globalizing the Korean food is a form of national pride. They have, therefore, embraced different strategies to promote these Korean foods. The Korean cuisine otherwise known as the Hansik has been at the center of food promotion. Most campaigns have been aimed at introducing the meals across continents. Despite the efforts, the Korean cuisine remains unpopular. The globalization of Korean food has been unsuccessful due to ineffective strategies in the global campaigns of the cuisines.

First, there has been no defined promotional focus of the dish. In essence, from the onset, several government agencies have emerged with the view of enhancing the globalization of the food. However, these agencies have not created their different roles within the nation. In fact, most of them carry out similar promotional activities at the international market. There has been an open criticism by most expertise in the market that the globalization of the Korean food is a waste of tax payer’s money, manpower and time. According to Hall,the government has spent billions of shilling to globalize the cuisine both in neighboring and international arenas.

However, lack of supervision has seen most agency programs overlap. For example, it has been considered normal to find two agencies using the same promotional mix strategy to promote the food. He notes that promoting the Korean cuisine was the key focus of the former first lady Yoon-Ok. She did push for the availability of the meals in most of the global summits and the diplomatic missions. Nevertheless, she noted that many other agencies chose to use the same strategy rather than exploring other means. One, therefore, wonders why despite the estimated 20.9 billion of budgetary funds, few come up with appropriate approaches of promoting the cuisine. The Korean meal thus continues to remain unpopular despite its health benefits. The old proverbial saying ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’ is apparent in the ways the use of television and films in globalizing the cuisines has negated the reception of the meal in the global areas. Many television series and comedies focus on the Korean cuisine in their production. However, they fail to embrace uniqueness and creativity in their quest to popularize the meal. For example, they would consider using people from a different race who seem to enjoy the meal. However, using Koreans to convince the rest of the world that the meal is tasty is a non-persuasive approach.

Secondly, transforming the cuisine to a global selling product is a complex task because of the bureaucratic challenges involved. In essence, many agencies have been launched to promote the Hansik. However, they have failed. There are reasons to account for the stagnation. First, most agencies hire expertise to research on the benefits of the Korean meals. The researchers spend millions of shillings establishing these facts. For example, they have established that the Korean Cuisine promotes vitality and sperm count at a faster rate compare to any other meals in the world. The information in the message has the potential to attract the global market. However, the agencies have not spent valuable time perpetuating such information. The meeting that realigns the globalization of the dish has been faced by negative pressure from individuals seeking to pursue their personal interests. Moreover, others have a mandate to fulfill their professional ambitions. Consequently, such attractive strategies have not been employed in the market. In essence, agencies work against another. For example, in 2013, the government set aside almost 12% of the money to globalize the Korean cuisine. However, in the same year the Korean foundation used 31% of their funds to research how the body reacts against bibimpab which forms part of the cusine. It, therefore, means that such strategies make people question the effectiveness of the cuisine as a meal.

Culinary globalization has been ineffective because of the poor system and measures that govern the restaurants overseas.  It is because most of the restaurants that have been opened overseas face the challenges of inefficiency. Particularly, there are few Korean restaurants in other nations. Secondly, most of the staff in these hotels do not have the appropriate expertise in the cooking of the cuisine. In fact, most of the staff is fetched from the local region. They, therefore, do not fashion the Hansik according to its Korean standards. Many of the consumers who come to try out the cuisine shun it. They develop a wrong perception regarding the cuisine. It would be imperative if the government trains staff and deploy them in these restaurants. It would mean that the consumers have a firsthand taste of the original cuisine. There are also other non-Koreans that have opened restaurants in places such as the US and UK. They produce a counterfeit of Korean cuisine. In essence, they do not foster quality and creativity in the cooking of the cuisine. They are more profit-oriented rather than seeking to promote the Korean cuisine as a mark a national pride. The poor strategies thus do not attract many international customers to seek. The inbuilt corruption among some government official also negate the process of globalizations. Funds that would otherwise be used in training the personnel have been used to fulfill individualistic interests.

Despite the argument, some viewers believe the globalization of cuisine stagnates because of the inbuilt attitude of the rest of the society. In essence, they hold the perception that Korean food has an unattractive taste that may not be accepted globally. They are of the view that the western foods have taken most of the market shares. They are tasty and well spiced. Moreover, they are available in many restaurants worldwide. The individuals also believe that the Koreans should consider propagating their cultural lifestyle other than food. Nevertheless, they remain oblivious to the important of globalization of Korean cuisine. In essence, besides being a source of national, it is a means for the Korean nation to gain profit.

The argument reveals the reason why the globalization of the Korean food has not been successful. The problem lies in the lack of focus for the agencies, the bureaucratic challenges, and the ineffective culinary globalization. Nevertheless, despite these problems, the Korean government can come up with the better strategy to make the dish among the top five favorable cuisines. They will have more profit gain. Moreover, it will create employment opportunities for the citizens oversee. The success of globalization of the cuisine will improve the country’s national image.