Jeonju's Gastronomic Greatness Recognized by UNESCO

Jeonju in North Jeolla Province has officially become a UNESCO City of Gastronomy, the Korean National Commission for the UN world body announced on Tuesday.

Colombia's Popayan (2005), China's Chengdu (2010) and Sweden's Ostersund (2010) have all joined the prestigious network in recent years, and the commission said Jeonju received the honor for a number of reasons.

These include its wealth of traditional home cooking handed down from generation to generation over thousands of years, its active public and private food research, a system of nurturing talented chefs, and its hosting of distinctive local food festivals.

UNESCO Creative Cities are classified into seven fields -- Literature, Film, Music, Craft and Folk Art, Design, Media Arts, and Gastronomy -- and 34 cities in 19 countries have been selected so far. Korea already has Seoul and Incheon in Gyeonggi Province on the list for Design and Craft and Folk Art, respectively.