Korean Gastro Diplomacy To Enhance State Promotion Toward Moslem Countries Ratih Herningtyas
Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta
Abstract
This paper discusses culinary as a medium of cultural exchange and strategic instrument to enhance other countries awareness, engage on cultural and personal level, and encourage economic development such as trade and investment, as well as country promotion with everyday diners. It is no longer just a problem in the kitchen area, nor a product that is processed and then eaten. South Korea is a good example to describe how the uses of culinary or popularly known as Korean Food, as well as other successful instruments such as Korean Drama or Korean Pop Music started in the early 1990s, have been boosted Korean cultural popularity, which direct and indirectly enhance Korean economic and political influences throughout the world. Interestingly, in contrast to K-Drama or K-Pop, K-Food has found a challenge to convince certain countries, especially Moslem countries that their food had met Halal standard, which mean the food has been prepare in a manner prescribed by Islamic law. Using political approaches especially on the perspective of soft diplomacy and commodification of Halal label, this paper found that Korean Government, represented by Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affair conducted Gastro Diplomacy -with its premise that the easiest way to win hearts and minds is through the stomach- by first, organizing K-Food Fair in three Moslem countries, such as Malaysia, United Arab Emirates and Indonesia in 2015, and second by making Lunch Box Mini Drama Series and uploaded it into YouTube to communicate, promulgate and convince other countries that Korean has noticed and fulfilled on requirement Halal standard for Moslems. These K-Food Fair and Lunch Box Mini Drama have succeeded in increasing Moslem public trust toward Korean Food.
Keywords: Korean Food, Gastro Diplomacy, country promotions
Topic: International Symposium on Social Sciences, Humanities, Education, and Religious Studies
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