Vietnam hosted the Pho Festival in Seoul earlier this month to celebrate its iconic noodle soup, pho, and to strengthen Vietnam-Korea relations through food diplomacy.

Attracting more than 28,000 attendees on Oct. 5, the first day of the two-day festival, visitors could enjoy Vietnamese food, including pho, a fragrant soup made with rice noodles, herbs, and either beef or chicken.

The event facilitated more than 100 business meetings between Vietnamese and Korean enterprises across the tourism, trade and investment sectors, resulting in the signing of over 20 memorandums of understanding, according to the organizers.

At the closing ceremony, Vietnam's Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc, who also chairs the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO, emphasized pho as a cultural symbol of Vietnam, blending Chinese and French influences with regional flavors.

He highlighted the skill and care required in preparing the dish.

The festival was attended by officials of the Vietnamese Embassy in Seoul, members of the local diplomatic corps, foreign residents in Korea, the Business Association of Vietnamese in Korea, Vietnamese community members, international guests, NGOs and the media.