Two named Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province Master Craftsmen: Hotel chef with 21 years’ experience and beauty master with 42 years’ experience

【Financial News, Chuncheon = Kim Gi-seop, Staff Writer】A hotel executive chef who developed more than 30 menu items using locally sourced Gangwon ingredients and a beauty master who has wielded scissors for more than 40 years have been named this year’s Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province Master Craftsmen.
According to Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province on the 13th, the province held a Master Craftsman Review Committee meeting on the 8th and selected Park Jong-mo, head of the culinary team at Delpino, Sono Hotels & Resorts in Goseong, in the culinary field, and Lee Gyeong-geun, CEO of Salon de Ikyung in Wonju, in the beauty field as its 2026 Master Craftsmen. The province accepted applications from May 7 to June 9, then finalized the list after a document review in July, on-site inspections in August by two experts in each trade, and a public consultation in September.
The Master Craftsman program, established under an ordinance enacted in 2018, identifies skilled technicians who have driven technological progress at industrial workplaces across the province. Since the first selections in 2019, 20 Master Craftsmen have been named. The program covers 38 fields and 92 trades. Only those who have worked in their trade for at least 15 years, reside in the province, and have worked for a business in the province for at least three years may apply. Those previously designated as provincial intangible cultural heritage or selected as a Republic of Korea Master Craftsman are ineligible.
Master Craftsman Park Jong-mo is a certified Master Craftsman in Cooking who has worked in professional kitchens for 21 years and currently oversees culinary operations at nine outlets within Delpino. He has developed four innovations, including vegan dumplings made with potato-starch wrappers filled with wild mountain greens, salt fermented with traditional nuruk, a wet-aging method for meat, and Korean-style consommé broth. He is credited in particular with invigorating the regional economy by introducing more than 30 menu items featuring Gangwon ingredients such as dried pollock, gondre, and dried radish greens.
After earning cook certificates in Korean, Western, pufferfish, and Japanese cuisine, Master Craftsman Park received his Master Craftsman in Cooking qualification in 2021. He has served 61 times as a judge at regional skills competitions and as a supervisor for national technical qualification exams. He has also taken part in product-development consulting for small businesses and, over the past decade, has volunteered 203 hours through cooking classes for underserved groups and events supporting people with disabilities.
Master Craftsman Lee Gyeong-geun is a beauty industry veteran with 42 years of experience. He earned master hairdresser and master barber qualifications in 2009 and 2015, respectively. His exceptional skill in the asymmetric cut, a type of asymmetrical design cut, has been recognized, and he also secured a patent for a box tissue designed to be easier to use. Alongside his work as a small-business consultant helping aspiring beauty business owners, he founded the Korea Beauty Industry Development Council and contributed to strengthening the industry’s competitiveness.
This Master Craftsman served 26 times as a judge at regional skills competitions and as a supervisor for practical exams. He also visited prisons and military bases to provide 385 hours of hair and beauty services over the past decade. Those selected as Master Craftsmen receive a certificate, plaque, and badge, as well as an annual technical development grant of 3 million won for two years to support the training of future generations and the advancement of industry.
Shin Won-cheol, vice governor for economic affairs of Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, said, “The hands that created new flavors with Gangwon ingredients and the hands that have worked in the beauty industry for more than 40 years made today’s Master Craftsmen. We will continue to seek out skilled technicians hidden across all 92 trades and nurture them into a source of competitiveness for Gangwon industry, so that the skills and spirit of giving the two of you have built up are passed on intact to those who follow.”

[email protected] Kim Gi-seop Reporter