Kimchi master's secrets, life talks with a pioneer barista: A new world of Gangwon travel

"This is salted shrimp caught by fishermen with a scoop net. It's also called 'jaha-jeot,' but this one is slightly thinner — it's 'saeha-jeot.' Have a taste. It's different, isn't it?"

On Thursday, as the lush greenery of Mitan-myeon in Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon Province, began to flush with autumn color, a private cooking class unfolded in an outdoor garden with a sweeping view of the Cheongoksan foothills. Park Gwang-hee, a 25-year veteran known for her "medicinal kimchi," willingly shared her secret recipes. Out came the tools of her craft: chili powder she had sun-dried and ground herself, a 16-year-old house soy sauce, and a rich broth.

The 11 participants touched and tasted Park's ingredients, nodding as they went. Questions followed — "Can I use roasted salt?" and "Don't you add carrots?" As the kimjang itself began, hands grew busy. Following the master's guidance — "Season it a little on the light side; the best ratio of cabbage to seasoning is 8 to 2" — participants carefully worked the paste into the leaves.

When the kimjang was done, lunch was laid out alongside more than 10 varieties of kimchi and pickled vegetables that Park had made herself. As the table filled with kimchi of every kind, the group broke into spontaneous exclamations of delight. "I feel like I'm under kimchi's spell," one participant said.

The kimchi master session was one stop on a two-night, three-day Gangwon Province itinerary offered by Shinsegae Department Store's region-focused travel program. Launched in July 2023, the program curates culinary, cultural and heritage experiences sourced from across the country. From last August, it began offering domestic travel packages in partnership with Via Shinsegae, a premium travel platform. This year's Gangwon culinary journey — the first of its kind — centered on hidden gastronomic experiences in Pyeongchang and Gangneung.

The itinerary also included a coffee tasting with Park Yi-chu, widely known as "the father of Korean hand-drip coffee." A first-generation barista, Park opened Bohemian Park Yi-chu Coffee in Sacheon-myeon, Gangneung, in 2000, helping transform the city into a coffee destination. Participants went beyond simply drinking coffee, spending about 50 minutes in conversation with Park. He shared the journey that led him — a second-generation Korean Japanese — to fall in love with coffee and eventually settle in Gangwon Province. He also revealed plans to relocate his cafe, saying, "Next spring, I'm heading to Uljin in North Gyeongsang Province." The announcement prompted a flurry of questions: "Why Uljin?" and "Are you training a successor?"

A representative for Park said he normally devotes himself entirely to coffee on the days his cafe is open — Thursday through Sunday — and takes no other engagements. "Today he made a very special exception," the representative said. Participants also came face to face with a massive roasting machine made by Japan's Fuji Royal at the Bohemian Park Yi-chu Coffee Factory. Custom-built to match Park's roasting style, the machine produces 30 tons of roasted beans a month.

Every meal became a culinary experience in its own right. The first evening's dinner, held at Budnamu Brewery in Gangneung run by Chef Hwang Jun-seong, was a fine-dining tasting menu reimagining local seasonal ingredients. Gangneung craft beer and barbecue were on offer, and Hwang's commentary with each course sharpened the group's appetite. Lunch on the second day was a traditional spread prepared by the chef of a well-known Gangneung tofu restaurant. The table filled with dishes not found on any menu: seasonal yellowtail and flounder sashimi, Gangneung-style octopus and skate salad, ongshimi rice dumplings and oksusu-beombeok corn porridge. Dinner that evening paired a tasting menu by Chef Choi Jong-won with the company of Lee Uk-jeong, a producer behind numerous food documentaries.

"I've been to Gangwon Province many times, but I've never had an experience like this," one participant said. "Even places I already knew looked completely new coming here with Shinsegae. It really was a whole new world."

A special partnership with the Cultural Heritage Administration added another layer to the journey. This trip included a docent tour of Gangneung's Seongyojang, a historic estate built in the late Joseon period some 300 years ago. Constructed by Yi Nae-beon, an 11th-generation descendant of Prince Hyoryeong — the elder brother of King Sejong — and preserved in its original form across 10 generations, the estate is considered the finest example of a traditional private garden and is designated a national folk cultural heritage site. Participants also took docent tours of Woljeongsa, a millennium-old Buddhist temple in Pyeongchang, and the National Joseon Royal Archives Museum, and joined a folk-painting workshop at Gangneung's Moran Craft Studio.

The program extends beyond travel into local economic partnerships. Specialty products — including ingredients Shinsegae has discovered in each region — are sold through pop-up stores at the department store, with a portion of the proceeds going back to local producers. "In response to requests to open up new regions, we plan to uncover content from places not yet explored and prepare differentiated experiences," a Shinsegae Department Store official said. "We will actively contribute to driving consumption of diverse and fresh content — from locally sourced ingredients to art and culture — through Local Is Shinsegae pop-ups and retail sales."