The fair, the biggest of its kind in Asia, kicked off earlier in the day for a four-day run, with more than 3,000 food-related companies from 80 countries and 78,000 buyers attending.

South Korea runs nine exhibition halls, including ones for kimchi, ginseng and other healthy foods, aT said, adding that the halls, in particular, distribute leaflets promoting the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in the South Korean alpine town of PyeongChang.

aT also aims to expand food exports to Japan.

South Korea's food shipments to Japan posted a record high of $2.39 billion in 2012, largely helped by "hallyu," or the global popularity of Korean dramas, films and pop songs.

Diplomatic rows over the Dokdo islets and history textbooks, however, led to declines in exports in following years, with those in 2015 recording $1.83 billion. The 2016 figure showed a turnaround with $1.89 billion, owing to better ties.

"We'll endeavor to revive food hallyu in Japan by making use of the 2018 PyeongChang and 2020 Tokyo Olympics," said Kim Ho-dong, head of aT's Tokyo branch. (Yonhap)