KOREA FOUNDATION

1. Please briefly introduce yourself.

I am the CEO of the JS Holdings Group that currently operates 21 businesses in the United Kingdom. I have launched 13 Korean restaurants under the brand YORI, as well as a Japanese restaurant, a Korean dessert café, a nail shop, a Korean-style fashion brand, and three photo studios. I moved here in 2004, and so I am currently entering my 19th year in this country. I had only one million won with me when I first arrived. While working day and night, I majored in business administration at the University of Surrey.

After graduating, I took a job at Samsung Electronics. As a member of the Business Innovation Team, my role involved the management and assessment of demand and supply of corporate operations in Europe. In 2016, while relying on the spirit and philosophy learned at Samsung, I opened the first YORI restaurant at Piccadilly Circus in the heart of London. Now, I run a total of 13 YORI locations in London, Cambridge, and Brighton. I have over 420 employees and registered annual sales of 25 billion won. Additionally, I have made efforts for human resources development and business growth.

2. YORI is one of the most popular Korean restaurants in the United Kingdom. How many customers do you have?

If you search online for Korean restaurants in downtown London, you will find that YORI has more than 3,500 reviews and that the average customer rating sits at 4.5 [out of 5]. YORI ranks first or second globally when it comes to the number of customer reviews of Korean restaurants. As these figures show, a large number of British people choose YORI. The monthly sales of the first YORI at Piccadilly Circus amounts to 100 million won. The restaurant is fully booked on weekends and reservations have to be made at least two weeks in advance. You can easily see a long line of people waiting outside to eat Korean food there.

3. Some British people may not find traditional Korean food very palatable. Still, you chose not to localize your menu. Was there a particular reason behind that decision?

People opening foreign restaurants often talk about localizing the food and serving localized dishes, but it is not easy to localize a menu here in the UK because people come from all around the world. That is why I decided to serve food that is genuinely Korean, and this policy seems to have paid off. Compared to the past, many British people have had the opportunity to visit Korea, and they remember the taste of the food enjoyed there. We try to completely revive such tastes, providing the same flavor at all of our 13 locations. I think YORI is popular because it serves authentic Korean food and because customers seem enchanted by the Korean style of service.

4. How do Brits receive Korean food? What is the most popular item on your menu?

K-pop groups like BTS and BLACKPINK as well as Squid Game and other K-dramas have enhanced the British public’s recognition of Korea. The number of people who come to our restaurants with prior knowledge about Korea has certainly increased compared to previous years. Steady sellers are, to name a few, Korean BBQ and popular street foods such as tteokbokki, stir-fried rice cake and other ingredients in a spicy sauce, and kimchijeon, a pancake made with kimchi.

5. Are there any difficulties in preparing Korean dishes outside of Korea? It may be hard to secure the right ingredients.

Until a few years ago, it was very difficult to procure Korean ingredients, but now we have a distribution network through which we can access almost all the products we need. This was made possible because the number of our restaurants increased, which in turn tremendously raised the demand for the required ingredients. Now, we can provide authentic Korean food without much difficulty.

6. In your opinion, what is the greatest merit or appeal of hansik, or Korean food, particularly to British people?

The greatest appeal of hansik is the harmony of the different ingredients. These come together to create a delicate and delicious flavor that our British customers seem to find appealing. To them, it feels special to experience cooking their own meat directly at a shared table and present each other with meat wrapped in leafy vegetables in the Korean way. Therefore, hansik has become both a go-to food that people want to share with loved ones on special occasions, and a new culture that they want to introduce to others.

7. You are also spreading fun aspects of Korean culture to people in Europe. Would you elaborate on that?

This year, I have launched the UK operation of “Life4Cuts,” the Korean-style photo-booth studio, opening several locations in downtown London. Similar studios in Korea are operated on a self-service basis but our stores are staffed by people who both operate the studios and serve as Korean culture ambassadors and entertainers, offering an enjoyable experience to customers.

Although familiar to Koreans, the photo-booth studios are quite novel to people in the UK and the rest of Europe. They are received as a sort of funky new culture, and local youths very much enjoy having their photographs taken while wearing funny masks. I never imagined that British customers would queue up to have their photos taken, but they do so every weekend. Moreover, by using the IP [intellectual property] of a number of K-pop groups, our customers are able to appear as if they have had their photos taken with K-pop stars, which has proven to be extremely popular. The K-pop stars available for such photos change every month, and fans wait for their chance to “collaborate” with them month after month.

8. Please tell us about your future plans and hopes.

K-pop and K-dramas enjoy immense popularity in the United Kingdom. One might even say that the current Hallyu, or Korean Wave, is bringing enormous benefits to a company like mine that deals in “K-food” and “K-content.” From now on, I would like to do more than purely expand my business—I hope to further promote Korean culture and contribute to increasing the overall positive perception of Korea.