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| Chef-owner, Yun Kyoung-suk, poses outside her restaurant, Yunga Myeongga, in downtown Seoul, Friday. / Courtesy of Yunga Myeongga |
Yun Kyoung-suk, Chef-owner of a fine dining Korean restaurant uses her restaurant as a venue for learning about the country's culture and history. Her restaurant, Yunga Myeongga, located in downtown Seoul, is renowned for its traditional dishes and interior design. This week, Yun has magnified the ambience by filling her restaurant with jade relics from ancient Korea for a history exhibition open until Saturday. She hopes the event ― an exhibition of and lecture on jade-relics from ancient Korea ― will raise awareness about Korea's rich history.
Yun described her restaurant as a venue for promoting Korea's history to citizens and visitors from abroad. The space for food and dining, she believes, is a perfect place for visitors to learn about Korean traditions ― its food, ingredients, and cutlery, and the history behind it.
"It's the perfect medium for communicating and getting the message across," she said.
Even on a typical day, she teaches her customers the history of each dish ― its origins, reason for use of specific ingredients and how it developed in its current form. The plates and utensils also have history of their own, passed down by forefathers of the country. History is her main drive and the purpose of her restaurant.
"I grew up with history," Yun said. She believes her dedication to history originates from her predecessors who fought for Korean independence during the Japanese occupation. "My parents always told me that whatever I do, I need to take on the job with the responsibility of serving my country."
Yun, 51, has taken that message to heart her whole life. She has been a frequent donator to organizations, historians and artists who share her passion. Since opening her own restaurant three years ago, she was able to expand the ways in which history is disseminated, by hosting various events inside her restaurant. This includes the exhibition currently being held, where guests will be able to enjoy various offerings ― view tables full of jade relics, buy books and listen to lectures about them ― all the while enjoying Korean cuisine.
Yun, who believes everything stands on history, hopes the younger generation would have more appreciation of the rich culture and history of Korea.
"If all the citizens know what belongs to them, they will be able to stand against any illegitimate attacks made by any other countries that try to claim our territory, culture and history," she said.
Her dedication to promoting Korean history goes beyond borders. Many of her customers are visitors from abroad, whom she manages to captivate with her stories of Korean food. She believes food is the "most relatable" and "enticing" topic that also has a breadth of history.
As a part of that effort, she will hold a beauty contest this October. Women from 60 countries will gather in Korea to travel around different parts of Korea and experience its culture. During the month-long event, she will also teach them to make Korean lunch boxes and deliver the meals to residents of "jjokbangchon,"shanty villages crowded with old, tiny dwellings mostly populated by the poorest of the elderly. This way, she believes, they may learn there are vulnerable groups out there that need support.
"When they return to their own countries, they could deliver not only lessons on Korean history and culture to their countries, but also the importance of sharing, of embracing. That way, they can become something like ambassadors to Korea."
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