Chung Dae-seong ,Korean and Japanese food cultre expert interview
  • 9 years ago
Japan, a country that feels so close yet so far from Korea. It is also where Korean ancestors' painful history lives on. Korea's kimchi used to be looked down upon in Japan for its garlic smell. Now, 70 years after Korea's liberation, more and more Japanese people are beginning to fall in love with kimchi.
Various foods created by the Korean diaspora originated from Utoro and Ikuno-ku Koreatown. Utoro is where the 1st generation Korean Japanese settled and Ikuno-ku Koreatown is where forced Korean laborers lived during and after the construction of the Hirano Canal.
Korean Japanese took beef and pork offal Japanese didn't eat and created horumonyaki. It was hunger that led to the creation of this dish, but it eventually became one of the most popular dishes in Japan.
Another dish created by Korean Japanese, yakiniku, is even considered one of the 3 main dine out menus in Japan along with sushi and ramen. Korea's kimchi is also popular in Japan for its rich flavor and healthy nutrients.
Arirang Prime reviews the dining table of the first generation Korean Japanese, Korean dishes that stepped outside into the world, and the miracles they made.

▶4th generation Korean Japanese, food planner Yoo-hyang
She lives by two names, Yuka and Yoo-hyang, but she is Korean. She works as a food planner who fuses the fare of Japan, Italy, and France with Korea's cooking style. She traces back the steps of the Korean diaspora and searches for the vestiges of the miracle it made in Japan.

▶Utoro's dining table
Utoro, Isedacho, Uji-shi, Kyoto-fu 51. This is where 1,300 Koreans were forced into labor in 1941 for the purpose of building a military airfield. The forced labor continued for 4 years until the end of WWII in 1945 aborted the construction as well. The Korean laborers' campsite was in Utoro. Even now, from the 1st generation to the 4th generation, there are many Korean-Japanese residents in Utoro. One of them is Um Yeong-bu, a 2nd generation Korean Japanese.
Even though t