JNU RISE Project Team Connects Taiwan Through Jeju Cuisine... Tourism and Food Service Cooperation

[Financial News, Jeju = Reporter Jung Yong-bok] Jeju National University will expand joint research and student exchanges with a Taiwanese university through Jeju's local cuisine. The university is seeking to link the intersection of Jeju's food culture and tourism industry to international research and education programs.
According to JNU on the 1st, JNU's RISE Project Team, the 'Jeju Food Humanities Road Convergence Track,' signed an MOU on Aug. 28 with the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management at Shuping University of Science and Technology in Taiwan to promote academic exchange and cooperation in food and tourism.
More than 40 people attended the event held at JNU and elsewhere in Jeju, including students and faculty members from the Jeju Food Humanities Road program and faculty from Shuping University of Science and Technology. Jung Min-kyung, the lead professor of the Jeju Food Humanities Road Convergence Track at JNU, and Li Shu-mei, head of the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management at Shuping University of Science and Technology, signed the agreement on behalf of both sides.
The two sides agreed to jointly operate academic programs and pursue joint research, academic exchanges and community service activities. They also plan to continue follow-up projects such as student exchanges, joint workshops, and co-authored papers and publications.
At the center of the cooperation is the food culture of Jeju and Taiwan. JNU plans to offer students international education and research opportunities that examine the cultural identity embedded in Jeju's food culture and its connection to the tourism industry, alongside cases from Taiwan.
A special lecture on international exchange in Jeju-Taiwan tourism and food culture was also held in connection with the MOU. Professors Jin Xianghao and Li Shu-mei from Shuping University of Science and Technology gave lectures on gourmet tourism in Taiwan and South Korea. Professors Xu Ming-sheng and Lin Yan-ting introduced examples of how local tourism resources are being used in Taiwan and discussed possible cooperation with Jeju.
In Jeju, local dishes became the focus of the lectures. Professors Kim Seo-young and Lee Ha-young, authors of 'Jeju Taste,' explained Jeju's signature foods and the culture behind them, using rice cakes and pork noodle soup as their themes.
With this agreement as a starting point, JNU plans to expand comparative research and international education programs that view food culture as a tourism resource. It also intends to push ahead with follow-up projects that connect exchanges between students and researchers in Jeju and Taiwan to joint research, workshops, and academic and publishing outcomes.
Jung Min-kyung, the lead professor of the Jeju Food Humanities Road Convergence Track at JNU, said, "We have laid the foundation for Jeju and Taiwan to continue academic exchanges through the common language of food culture." She added, "We will turn this into concrete academic and educational results, including student exchanges, joint workshops, and co-authored papers and publications."


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