By Sohn JiAe

The menu for the welcome banquet where the leaders of South and North Korea will sit down across from each other during the 2018 Inter-Korean Summit was unveiled on April 24, just two days before the talks.

Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Kim Eui-kyeom said in a press briefing at Cheong Wa Dae that, “This menu was selected so as to honor those who have endeavored to achieve peace and unification on the Korean Peninsula over the past many years.”

The menu covers the whole Korean Peninsula. There are steamed square dumplings, known as pyeonsu (편수), stuffed with croaker and sea cucumber from Gageodo Island in Sinan-gun, Jeollanam-do Province, the hometown of former President Kim Dae-jung. It features rice grown with eco-friendly farming techniques that use ducks, not pesticides, to get rid of weeds and insects. There's charcoal-grilled beef from the Seosan Beef Farm in Chungcheongnam-do Province, from where Chung Joo-young, the former honorary chairman of Hyundai Group, sent a number of cattle to North Korea. There's also a cold naengchae (냉채) salad made with octopus from Tongyeong-si, Gyeongsangnam-do Province, the hometown of composer Yun Isang who made it possible for a South Korean troupe to perform in Pyeongyang in 1990.

The John Dory fish (Zeus faber), the most-commonly eaten fish in Busan, where President Moon Jae-in spent his childhood, and a Korean version of the potato fritter dish rosti from Switzerland, where North Korean leader Kim Jong Un spent part of his childhood, will both be put on the table, as well.



A bowl of cold noodles, naengmyeon (냉면), from the Okryugwan restaurant in Pyeongyang will be served during the banquet. According to Cheong Wa Dae, this dish was included on the menu at the request of President Moon.

On April 27, North Korea will send a group of chefs from the restaurant to Panmunjeom where the summit is taking place and will set up a noodle-making machine at the Thongil House. Noodles freshly made will be delivered straight to the Peace House, the venue for the banquet, and served on the table for the two leaders.

Concerning toasts, the alcohol on the menu will be myeoncheon dugyeonju (면천두견주), a liquor brewed from azalea flowers and glutinous rice, and munbaesul (문배술), a traditional distilled liquor dating back to Goryeo times (918-1392).

For dessert, there will be a mango mousse decorated with the unification flag and spring flowers, and then tea and refreshments made from Hallabong oranges from Jejudo Island in the South and from pine mushrooms from along the Baekdudaegan Mountain Range, symbolizing the significance of unity between the two Koreas.

jiae5853@korea.kr