“Food seems to bridge traditional and modern aspects of life in Korea, a country that has developed into the world’s 15th largest economy in just half a century, growing from being one of the poorest to one of the richest… There are hundreds of luxurious coffee shops lined up everywhere and in between these modern stores, traditional restaurants can still be found.”


Korean food culture has recently come under the spotlight in Sweden. Svenska Dagbladet, a Swedish daily newspaper, dedicated eight pages of its travel section to Korean food and related culture in one of its recent weekend editions. Based on her personal travel experiences in Seoul, reporter Jenny Damberg portrayed Korea as a nation that has a broad and varied food culture.


The Swedish newspaper recommended three must-go destinations in Seoul to taste the essence of Korean food. First is the Noryangjin Fisheries Wholesale Market, established in 1927, the nation’s largest inland seafood market. One of the merits of the market is that customers can pick their fish or seafood items and then be served in one of the adjacent eateries.

The Swedish daily also introduced readers to Naengmyeon Street or Cold Buckwheat Noodle Street in Ojangdong, Seoul. It was founded in the 1950s by Korean War refugees who came from the area around Hamheung in Hamgyeongnam-do (South Hamgyeong Province) in what is now North Korea.

In addition to the fish market and the noodle street, Pajeon Alley near Kyung Hee University was recommended by the Swedish reporter. The alley is dedicated to the Korean style “pancake” and many of the stores there have been in business for over 40 years.

Elsewhere in the same newspaper, reporter Erik Augustin Palm gave his recommendations for “Four Days in Seoul.” He described Seoul as a whole nation where “visitors can experience both Hong Kong and Tokyo.”


On the first day, the newspaper recommended visiting Seoul N Tower to enjoy the city view on the mountain top. Then, it said, they can come down to Myeongdong, the nation’s No. 1 shopping district, close to the tower, to shop and to taste dumplings and kalguksu, a chopped noodles dish.

On day two, the Swedish daily suggested tourists experience both traditional and modern works of art at the Samsung Leeum Museum and then look around Seoul’s old palaces of Gyeongbokgung and Gwanghwamun. For lunch, a restaurant specialized in bulgogi in the Hongdae district was recommended as a good option. During the evening, the newspaper recommended travelers experience youth culture at a noraebang, or singing room, or at a nightclub with a live indie band performance.

On day three, it advised tourists to experience the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the heavily fortified border that divides the peninsula in two, to experience a jjimjilbang, a type of public sauna, and to experience the Gangnam area, one of the nation’s most expensive neighborhoods that gained worldwide fame in PSY’s “Gangnam Style” music video.

Finally, on the last day, travelers were recommended to try bindaeddeok, a mung bean “pancake,” at a traditional market in Jongno or else brunch at a non-Korean ethnic restaurant in Itaewon. After the meal, a visit to Jogyesa Temple, representing the nation’s largest Buddhist order, would be a good travel option, added the newspaper.

By Lee Seung-ah
Korea.net Staff Writer
slee27@korea.kr