Reaching the heart through the stomach, the Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism on Wednesday laid out its plan to Korean promote temple food internationally.

Established in 2004, the Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism promotes Korean Buddhism and its cultural contents by providing traditional cultural experience programs, education, exhibition and campaign.

“We will promote Korean temple food overseas with Korean Cultural Centers and Korean embassies located outside of Korea,” head monk Ven, Wonkyung said during a press conference held in Seoul. “We will also provide content (about temple foods) on diverse online channels, including YouTube.”

The operator also plans to promote Korean temple food at universities abroad.

“We are currently scheduled to conduct two classes in March and August at the London campus of Le Cordon Bleu,” Ven. Wonkyung said. “These are the first classes we are conducting overseas that are part of the school’s regular curriculum. This is the result of our promotion work over the last few years. We have been holding some demonstration classes at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. We also conducted some classes at the Korean Cultural Center in London.”

The cultural program operator added that it will also participate in the international slow food event, which will be held in October in Italy.

This year will see greater promotion of the Templestay program, the Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism said. In 2019, a total of 70,520 foreigners experienced Buddhist culture through the rogram.

“Our goal, for now, is to attract over 80,000 visitors a year. We know that it will not be easy but we will work on it,” Ven. Wonkyung said.

To address the Korean tourism industry’s growing concerns about the spread of coronavirus, the temple stay program operator said it has called each temple and informed them about hygiene rules that they have to follow.

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)