SEOUL - The South Korean capital on Oct 24 announced a new campaign to promote standardised foreign language names for Korean foods, aiming to boost culinary tourism by providing accurate translations for international visitors.

       The initiative, in collaboration with the Seoul Tourism Organisation and Korea Food Service Industry Association, runs until Nov 1 and focuses on correcting mistranslations of famous Korean dishes.

       Foreign tourists often encounter baffling translations on menus, such as “bear tang” for gomtang (beef bone soup), “six times” for yukhoe (beef tartare), “chicken a--hole house” for stir-fried chicken gizzards, “lifestyle meat” for raw meat, and “dynamic stew” for pollack stew.

       These errors stem from literal translations or automated services, which fail to convey the essence of traditional dishes, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

       The city also noted that while the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has introduced “shinchi” as the official Chinese translation for “kimchi”, the incorrect translation, “pao cai”, is still in use. The campaign will promote the correct translation for menus that include this iconic Korean dish.

       The city emphasised that correct translations are available online in the “Seoul Foreign Language Dictionary”. This resource includes 30,253 English entries, 28,900 Chinese entries and 29,610 Japanese entries, which city officials said can serve as a reliable guide for restaurateurs to ensure their menus accurately represent Korean cuisine in foreign languages.

       As part of the campaign, Seoul, alongside the Korea Food Service Industry Association, on Oct 23 jointly reached out to restaurants in Myeongdong, one of the primary shopping and tourism districts in the city.

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       To encourage the active participation of the city’s restaurants, the industry group plans to continue this outreach across Seoul’s tourist-heavy areas until Nov 1. Moreover, the city plans to distribute multilingual digital menu boards to 400 select restaurants frequented by foreigners, with applications open until Nov 15.

       “Accurate naming is vital for introducing our cuisine to the world. We urge restaurants to play an active role in advancing Seoul’s culinary tourism by adopting standardised translations from the ‘Seoul Foreign Language Dictionary’ and ensuring their menus accurately represent Korean dishes to international visitors,” said Mr Kim Young-hwan, director-general of the Tourism and Sports Bureau at the city government. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK