If asked to name my favorite food, I would choose cheonggukjang (fermented soybean paste). After finishing a bowl of rice topped with cheonggukjang, both body and mind feel fully satisfied. I have a regular cheonggukjang restaurant I visit often, and once I had a meal there with young reporters. When I asked whether they usually eat cheonggukjang, they said they loved it. They told me that among their friends, "eating healthy food is a trend these days," and I was pleased to see them enjoying it.
I also felt the popularity of fermented foods in France, where I stopped by on a business trip. In the center of the food hall at a famous department store in Paris, fermented foods such as doenjang, gochujang, and ganjang held pride of place. Locals said our jang (fermented pastes and sauces) and kimchi are both good for health and delicious, filling their shopping baskets with fermented foods. Lunch boxes using traditional jang were also popular, selling out as fast as they were prepared, they said.
In this sense, it is no exaggeration to say that the second K-Food is fermented food. If K-Food until now was raw agricultural products and processed dishes made from them, now is the era of fermented foods. First, they are good for health. Fermented foods make the gut healthy. Kimchi and jang (doenjang, gochujang, ganjang, etc.) increase beneficial bacteria in the gut while also providing food for those beneficial bacteria, harmonizing the gut ecosystem. Kimchi, the representative fermented food, was even introduced as a healthy food in dietary guidelines announced by the U.S. government. In January this year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture stated in the "Dietary Guidelines for Americans" that "it is good to consume fermented foods such as kimchi, as well as vegetables and fruits, to increase the diversity of gut microorganisms." The dietary guidelines are an official document that forms the basic framework for federally operated school meals, military meals, and nutrition support programs over the next five years. This shows just how much the status of K-fermented foods has risen.
Second, they carry on tradition. Jang is a food that contains the tradition and culture of the Korean people. For thousands of years, our ancestors made jang and shared it from generation to generation, with each household carrying on its own unique jang flavor. Jang contains the identity of our people, which values community cohesion and deepens flavor through long aging. Thanks to this symbolism, the culture of "jang making" was inscribed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2024. Jang is in itself a "great heritage."
To carry on the tradition of K-fermented foods, the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT) designates food masters in each field, such as kimchi and jang, to support the development of traditional foods. Currently, 88 food masters of Korea are active, including kimchi masters, jang masters, and traditional liquor masters. Their global popularity is so high that famous overseas chefs come in person to learn the masters' hand-crafted flavors. While the value of K-fermented foods is drawing attention abroad, I feel regret that this heritage—which condenses the history, culture, and identity of the Korean people—is not sufficiently highlighted at home.
K-Food is not simply food. It is a cultural heritage of excellent taste, nutrition, and quality, grown within our land's long history and tradition and its distinctive four seasons. Among them, a reappraisal of fermented foods, which contain the identity of the Korean people, is urgently needed. As of last year, kimchi exports reached 164 million dollars (about 250 billion won), a 2.2-fold increase from 10 years ago. Gochujang rose 2.3-fold and ganjang 1.6-fold. We must pay attention to fermented foods, the "second K-Food" that will carry on K-Food's status. In addition to semiconductors, which have been the nation's growth engine, it is now time for K-Food to drive economic growth as a twin export locomotive. Let us expand K-Food exports and broaden our food territory. I hope fermented foods will demonstrate their true worth on Korea's path to becoming a strong, advanced nation.
