Yeosu World Islands Expo rebuffs 'poor value' criticism over soy-marinated crab meal

The organizing committee of the Yeosu World Islands Expo said it will "humbly accept visitors' feedback and move immediately to make improvements," addressing a series of controversies surrounding the event.

The expo, which opened Sept. 5, drew online criticism in its early days over the quality of its food offerings and the production value of its performances.

In a press release issued Friday, the committee said it plans to diversify the banchan, or side dish, lineup at on-site restaurants, conduct visitor satisfaction surveys and "continuously address shortcomings." It also pledged to strengthen the production quality of traditional regional performances "to match the expectations of our audience."

The committee rebuffed criticism that a 14,900-won ($11) soy-marinated crab set meal was poor value for money, saying the dish used blue crabs from Yeonpyeong Island — not the smaller stone crabs — and was priced 3,000 won cheaper than what the same vendor charges for the same portion in Seoul. However, it added that "if visitors felt dissatisfied, it is the committee's responsibility to improve."

The controversy erupted after a YouTuber posted a video showing the set meal they had ordered at a restaurant inside the expo grounds, sparking widespread criticism that the meal was underwhelmingly assembled for its price. The video showed a reasonably sized portion of soy-marinated crab, but the accompanying items — soup, kimchi, macaroni salad and a sheet of dosirak seaweed — drew complaints for looking sparse.

In response, the committee conducted a full inspection of all restaurants at the venue and instructed them to expand their side dish offerings. It also said it would stagger cooking volumes according to demand throughout the day to maintain food quality, and carry out ongoing visitor satisfaction surveys to improve service.

On the controversy over a performance of "Geomundo Baetnnorae" — a traditional boat song — staged on a one-ton truck draped in cloth to resemble a vessel, the committee said the show was "a program promoted as a local government project to introduce the traditional culture of island communities" and was not directly organized by the committee itself. It nonetheless promised to "reinforce the production elements" of the performance.

The performance, staged Tuesday at an open-air venue, drew mockery as a "half-hearted show" after the truck drove around while performers in the cargo bed mimed rowing.

Geomundo Baetnnorae is a labor song that fishermen on Geomundo Island sang during anchovy fishing, and was designated an intangible cultural heritage of South Jeolla Province in 1972. The performers were not professional artists but residents of Geomundo Island, many of them elderly heritage bearers in their 70s or older.

The committee's implicit message was that audiences should be understanding: despite the modest staging, the performers were aging tradition-keepers, and the show was part of a local government-linked program to introduce island culture.

The committee said it agrees that "shortcomings must be corrected and inconveniences addressed," but urged the public not to "judge the efforts of people working hard on the ground, or the entirety of the culture islands have preserved, based solely on a few scenes circulating online." It added that merchants and island residents taking part in the expo "are working hard to share their local food and culture," and asked the public to take in the full picture of what the event has to offer.