Four-day food festival offers tastes of Asean

Social Affairs

Published: 02 Nov. 2016, 20:07

Four-day food festival offers tastes of Asean

Ambassadors of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations gather after the opening ceremony of the ASEAN Culinary Festival 2016 on Wednesday at COEX in southern Seoul. From second from left of the first row: Thura U Thet Oo Maung, ambassador of Myanmar; Dato Paduka Haji Mohd Rosli Haji Sabtu, ambassador of Brunei; Yip Wei Kiat, ambassador of Singapore; Pham Huu Chi, ambassador of Vietnam; Dato Rohana binti Ramli, ambassador of Malaysia; Sarun Charoensuwan, ambassador of Thailand; Kim Young-sun, secretary general of the ASEAN-Korea Centre; Yu Myung-hwan, former Korean foreign affairs minister; John Prasetio, ambassador of Indonesia; Raul Hernandez, ambassador of the Philippines; Khamsouay Keodalavong, ambassador of Laos; Long Dimanche, ambassador of Cambodia; Yang Houlan, secretary general of the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat. [PARK SANG-MOON]

A food festival introducing the distinctive tastes of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) kicked off Wednesday at COEX in southern Seoul.

Hosted by the ASEAN-Korea Centre and sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the ASEAN Culinary Festival 2016 runs through Saturday at Hall B of COEX, offering a wide variety of food items prepared by star chefs from each country.

The culinary festival is held in conjunction with the ASEAN Fair 2016, which includes a food exhibition that promotes food and beverages.

Kim Young-sun, secretary general of the ASEAN-Korea Centre, said Wednesday during a launch ceremony that he hopes the ASEAN Fair “presents opportunities for Asean and Korea to enhance their business network and economic cooperation.”

Kim said the fair will demonstrate the competitive food products of Asean and the wide spectrum of Asean culinary culture.

Thai Ambassador Sarun Charoensuwan said in congratulatory remarks that he hopes the “Asean wave will slowly and steadily reach the shores of Korea through culture and food.”

Manilath Keodalavong, wife of the ambassador of Laos, who volunteered to cook for the Laos booth in the festival, said she was glad to see the Korean crowd enjoy her food, which included the most popular dishes from her country: laap, khao niew and tam mak taeng, among others.

Opening hours are 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. until Friday, and 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. Admission is charged. For more information, call 02-2287-1135.

BY LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]