Walking in the busy streets of Seoul on a Friday or Saturday night, it is common to see groups of friends sharing juicy samgyeopsal (grilled pork belly) while drinking soju (rice-based alcohol) against the backdrop of bright neon restaurant signs and street lights that illuminate the city. The Korean barbeque experience is a key part of the Korean culinary experience and encapsulates two of Korea’s biggest loves: pork and alcohol. South Korea has one of the highest proportions of pork consumed per capita in the world, and alcohol is a major part of Korean culture as a way to bring people together. Given the prominence of these ingredients, it is fair to say that they are essential to not only the South Korean diet but also the Korean lifestyle.
However, for the growing number of Muslims drawn to Korea as a travel spot or even a place to live as a result of the widespread “Korean wave”, this aspect of the country’s culture is a barrier. In Islam, pork and alcohol consumption is forbidden, and beyond that, most Korean restaurants do not meet the halal standards required by the religion, which states, among other things, that products must be ethically sourced, with animals being slaughtered in specific, “lawful” ways. This poses a problem for the Korean government: South Korea is always trying to expand its tourism industry, but by not having halal food available for Muslim tourists, the country is denying itself of a key demographic of visitors. For Muslims who are permanent residents of Korea, the problem is even worse, with adults forced to refrain from social outings due to dietary restrictions and children unable to eat the food provided to them at school. To combat this issue, the South Korean government has in recent years moved to establish halal restaurants in South Korea, but as the halal restaurants grow in number, so has the backlash from the Korean Christian right.
The origins of hallyu (the Korean wave) are typically tied back to the late 1990s when then-South Korean president Kim Dae-Jung allocated millions of dollars to the international promotion of Korean popular culture. Initially, hallyu was mostly effective in other East Asian countries. But in 2008, another surge of interest in Korean culture occurred more broadly. This second wave hit the Middle East especially hard. In comparison to Western entertainment, mainstream Korean media is much less obscene, with little swearing and sexual content, making it more suitable to the Middle Eastern cultural context. Along with this increased interest in Korean media came an interest in Korean beauty and other Korean-made products, with $43 million worth of K-beauty imports to the United Arab Emirates in 2021 alone. With more people in the Middle East engaging with Korean pop culture, economic ties between South Korea and Middle Eastern countries have grown, as has the desire among Middle Easterns to speak Korean, travel to Korea, and even live in Korea.
Given the enthusiasm for Korean culture in Middle Eastern countries (in which the vast majority of the population is Muslim) and the South Korean government’s desire to bolster its tourism industry, it makes sense why Korea is making an effort to expand food options for Muslim visitors and residents. For years, the issue of food accessibility for Muslims in Korea was barely considered, but after KBS (Korean Broadcasting System) released a docu-series in 2015 about halal food as an economic strategy, this issue suddenly became much more relevant in the minds of Korean politicians, who were worried about stagflation and willing to do anything to boost the economy. As a result, an effort began to establish halal restaurants in Korea. Daegu, one of the biggest cities in South Korea, created the “Halal Food Activation Project,” which aims to increase the number of halal restaurants in the city by tenfold, and the Korean Tourism Organization has created a variety of pamphlets and guides for Muslim tourists listing the halal food and cultural resources available to them in Korea.
These efforts have already been successful in attracting more Muslim tourists to Korea, fostering intercultural connections, and building the country’s economy. Despite these benefits, however, there is significant backlash towards this progress from certain demographics, especially the Christian right. In South Korea, where less than 0.3% of the population identifies as Muslim, harmful stereotypes about Islam run rampant, with certain conservative groups propagating the idea that Muslims are inherently violent. Many are concerned that if Korea becomes more welcoming to Muslims, they will not only commit acts of violence but also evangelize, with halal acting as a Trojan horse to circulate Islamic ideals to the Korean population. This, some fear, would ultimately dilute Korean culture and bring so-called “evil” beliefs and practices into the country.
While these views may seem somewhat insignificant against a broader landscape of government efforts to make Korea halal-friendly, they have had real impacts. In 2016, the Korean city of Iksan proposed an industrial zone to manufacture halal goods, but this proposal failed due to intense resistance from Christian groups. Similarly, when the governor of Gangwon Province announced his plan to establish halal food zones, he received strong opposition from protestors concerned about Islamic terrorists coming to Korea and was forced to scrap the initiative. Although these are just two examples of conservative groups successfully battling proposals to make Korea more accessible to Muslims, they are reflective of a larger, ongoing trend that shows that the power of this demographic cannot be underestimated.
However, this backlash hasn’t stopped all progress from being made — between 2022 and 2023, Muslim tourism to Korea went up by 33%. In order to maintain this growth, the government must continue to make sure the country’s facilities are accessible, expanding to new areas beyond food. In Korea, mosques and prayer rooms are few and far between, and Korean manufacturers still have a long way to go to ensure that all types of products, like cosmetics and leather, are halal. These efforts would not only grow the tourism industry but would also ease the burdens of Muslims who are permanent residents of Korea. To make these changes, Korea needs not only the right policies but also the right attitude, encouraging a broader culture of acceptance so that the country can be open to all opportunities for growth in the years to come.
Featured/Headline Image Caption and Citation: Halal bulgogi beef, taken on Sep 10, 2013, Photo by Aiena Zahira | Image sourced from Flickr | CC License, no changes made