Korea maps out 'chicken belt' dining trail as part of K-Gastronomy Journey push

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is rolling out the K-Gastronomy Journey project, which links Korean food with regional tourism. The ministry's first initiative under the project is the K-Chicken Belt platform, an online guide connecting the country's top chicken and poultry restaurants with local tourist attractions. The ministry plans to expand the program in the second half of the year to include traditional Korean liquor and heritage food experiences.

The ministry unveiled the K-Gastronomy Journey — its culinary tourism roadmap for the second half of the year — at a briefing Monday for journalists, travel industry representatives and social media influencers.

The K-Chicken Belt platform is the project's first content offering. The online platform introduces regional chicken and poultry restaurants alongside tourist attractions, traditional markets, local festivals and rural experience villages, and suggests ready-made travel itineraries. Users can also create and share their own travel routes.

The platform features 30 chicken and poultry destinations nationwide, selected through a public nomination drive held in March and April, recommendations from local governments, and on-site inspections. Notable entries include the chicken gizzard alley at Daegu's Pyeonghwa Market, Taebaek's braised water chicken (mul dakgalbi), Andong's steamed chicken (jjimdak), Sokcho's sweet and spicy chicken (dakgangjeong), and Suwon's king galbi chicken.

The ministry expects the platform to draw foreign tourists to regional destinations, noting that Korean-style chicken is the most popular hansik menu among overseas consumers. A survey of overseas hansik consumers conducted this year found Korean fried chicken ranked first among preferred menu items, at 14 percent. A separate survey of foreign visitors found that food tourism was the top activity they wanted to pursue while in Korea, cited by 61.7 percent of respondents — higher than shopping at 57.3 percent.

The ministry will roll out additional culinary tourism programs in the second half of the year, starting with chicken. In August, it will run a program offering traditional liquor experiences through visits to regional breweries, followed in September by hands-on traditional food experiences with holders of the Korea Food Master designation.

Global food festivals will round out the calendar in October and November. The ministry plans to link events including the Hansik Festa, Food Week Korea, the Woori Liquor Grand Festival and the Kimchi Festival to expand K-food as a tourism draw. From July through December, the ministry will also operate a "rural healing stay" program allowing visitors to spend time in the countryside and experience local food and rural culture firsthand.

Agriculture Minister Song Mi-ryeong said K-food and hansik have grown beyond mere sustenance to become a cultural force in their own right. "Starting with the K-Chicken Belt, we will continue to develop content that connects regional food culture with tourism, and expand culinary tourism that both domestic and international visitors can enjoy," she said.