Iksan City Features 19 Local Restaurants in Broadcasts and YouTube Content

Raw Beef Bibimbap, Ox Head Soup, and More

This year, 19 local restaurants in Iksan City, North Jeolla Province, were featured in popular broadcasts and YouTube content.

According to the city on the 17th, the restaurants introduced included generationally passed-down establishments serving dishes such as raw beef bibimbap, ox head soup, and bean sprout soup, as well as traditional Korean restaurants, snack bars specializing in ramen and sweet and sour pork, restaurants specializing in braised spicy chicken and knife-cut noodles, Taiwanese eateries, and pubs, reflecting a wide range of dining options.

Iksan City had 19 local restaurants featured in popular broadcasts and YouTube content this year. Provided by Iksan City

Following the broadcasts, there has been a noticeable increase in visitors and a surge in reservation inquiries, with many expressing surprise at the diversity of popular restaurants in Iksan.

The city does not view this media exposure as a one-off event or a matter of chance, but rather as a natural outcome of the accumulated efforts of its dedicated gastronomy organization.

Recently, "taste" has become the leading trend in travel. According to a survey by the Korea Tourism Organization last year, over 60% of travelers cited "visiting popular restaurants and food experiences" as their main travel purpose. The criteria for choosing destinations have shifted from scenery and facilities to what culinary experiences are available.

Anticipating this change, the city reorganized its departments in the first half of this year and established the "Gastronomy Industry Division," a dedicated organization for gastronomy initiatives.

Since then, the city has systematically promoted gastronomy-based projects, including: establishing a communication platform for the gastronomy industry; developing new dishes and hosting tasting events using local ingredients; organizing sweet potato stem dish tastings and exhibitions in conjunction with local festivals; producing the "Gastronomy Cultural Travel Guide - Following the Taste, Following the Road," which covers information on tourist attractions, restaurants, cafes, and accommodations by region; and developing food industry tourism content.

Together with NS Shopping, a subsidiary of local food company Harim headquartered in Iksan, the city has continued to host the "NS Food Festa," the largest food festival in Korea, for four consecutive years, actively implementing its gastronomy policies on the ground.

The NS Food Festa is an event where leading domestic food companies and local food businesses participate together, and it has become a key platform for shaping Iksan's image as a city of food industry and gastronomy, with visitor numbers steadily increasing each year.

Going beyond a simple food event, the festival is evolving into an experiential celebration for citizens and tourists alike, expanding participatory programs such as national cooking competitions, K-Food tastings, food culture lectures, and gastronomy tours.

With the establishment of a dedicated gastronomy organization, the execution of policies, festival operations, and the spread of related content forming a virtuous cycle, Iksan is steadily transforming into a "city to visit for food and a city where people want to stay."

Building on the impact of this recent media exposure, the city plans to further expand gastronomy tourism and accelerate the development of a "sixth-sector food industry belt" that connects production, processing, experience, and tourism.

A city official stated, "Iksan is already a city with abundant ingredients, a long-standing tradition, and a robust dining culture. Now that we have gained attention through broadcasts and YouTube, it is the perfect time to further expand our gastronomy policies. We will firmly establish Iksan as a 'city to visit for food.'"