Known as the “Taste City”, Jeonju is a city renowned for its gastronomy and food industry. With its long- standing tradition in the production of rice cultivated on the Honam Plain, fish and salted fish from the Yellow Sea, fresh vegetables and wild greens from the mountains, Jeonju is recognized as a reference for high quality traditional Korean food.

The city has made continual efforts to protect traditional food culture and develop the gastronomy sector.

To support the development of the traditional food culture, Jeonju offers various traditional food and cooking programmes at universities, high schools and private institutions. The city also created the Creative Culinary Institute of Korea and the Bibimbap Globalization Foundation through innovative partnerships involving the public and the private sectors. Additionally, Jeonju’s infrastructure enables the city to host various food festivals including the Jeonju Bibimbap Festival and the International Fermented Food Expo, thus contributing to the internationalization of traditional Korean food, while also establishing a model for sustainable development for the food industry of the 21st century.

As a UNESCO City of Gastronomy, Jeonju will develop the food industry together with other Cities of Gastronomy from around the world through sustainable partnerships and collaborations based on its rich cultural heritage in traditional food.

As a Creative City of Gastronomy, Jeonju envisages:

• continuing to be actively engaged in collaborating and networking with cities around the world to promote cultural diversity and sustainable development

• strengthening exchanges with the Cities of Gastronomy in particular through specific agreements