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Korean food is now famous all over the world with restaurants popping up in cities like New York, London and elsewhere while some of its cuisine including Kimchi, fried chicken and ramyeon (instant noodles) is now being found in supermarket shelves even in small towns in Europe and other continents as companies seek to capitalize on the K-food craze. 

Food is central to the culture in Korea; even greetings involve questions about whether someone has eaten or not and anyone who has visited Korea will know that restaurants are everywhere, and they are usually affordable. You can normally find a range of restaurants within minutes of someone’s residence; from stews to help nurse a hangover to BBQ, Katsu, noodles, Kimbap and much more.

It's therefore not surprising that food features heavily in Korean films in both commercial and independent titles. Characters are often having conversations over a meal; be it at home or in a restaurant. Indeed, the films of Hong Sangsoo invariably feature scenes in restaurants, quite frequently with alcohol as characters discuss relationships and life. Food is never far away in the work of Bong Joon Ho – in fact in both The Host (2006) and Okja (2017) the films close with a scene of two characters eating even in silence as they munch away.

In Korea-themed Hollywood films food is also prominent. Minari (2020) takes its title from the side dish that many Koreans enjoy, while KPop Demon Hunters (2025) also depicts Korean food culture including Kimbap (seaweed rice rolls) and ramyeon. The company behind some of Korea’s best-selling Ramyeon, Nongshim released a limited edition of Huntrix-themed cup ramyeon eaten by the characters in the animated feature.

In Korean films food can signify different social classes as seen with the lavish dishes in period films like Untold Scandal (2003), while the type of meat including local beef known as Hanwoo is seen as a luxury often accompanied with wine. Soju (Korean liquor) on the other hand has different connotations as it’s more affordable and is frequently seen in Korean features; from independent titles like Hong’s Right Now, Wrong Then (2015) to commercial films such as Crazy Romance (2019) reflecting Korea’s drinking culture.   

This week we take a look at some of the food in Korean films and what they represent and their popularity. We begin with chicken and fried chicken (Sopyonje (1993), The Way Home (2002), Extreme Job (2019)) then move on to Korean barbeque (Memories of Murder (2003), People and Meat (2025)), noodles (One Fine Spring Day (2001), Castaway on the Moon (2009), Parasite (2019) and snacks (JSA (2000)).

Chicken – Sopyonje, The Way Home & Extreme Job

Over the years chicken has appeared in significant Korean films. This was true of Im Kwon-taek’s Sopyonje that turned into what was then the most successful film of all time and this was attributed to how it depicted Korean culture and the notion of Han that can be translated as grief or suffering.

In the film it follows a man (Kim Myung-gon) and his two adopted children, he’s teaching them the art of Pansori (traditional Korean music featuring a singer and a drummer) as they travel around the country. The film is told through a series of flashbacks and in one scene the father boils a chicken, but it’s then revealed he has stolen the chicken and is beaten up by a neighbor. His daughter (Oh Jung-hae) tries to help him, and he later reveals he blinded her and talks about the importance of han or grief – a key theme in the film. He says, “At last, I feel the grief from your Pansori.” 

In Lee Jeong-hyang’s The Way Home that was one of the first Korean films to be released on DVD in the West through Paramount Classics it follows a frail mute grandmother (Kim Eul-boon) who takes care of her grandson (Yoo Seung-ho) in rural Korea as his mother looks for a new job. The boy having lived in the city looks down on his elderly relative and is demanding KFC chicken. The grandmother interprets this as Samgyetang (a soup with a boiled chicken filled with rice, garlic and Ginseng) that is popular during the summer months. The boy unaware of the time and cost that went into preparing it scolds her underscoring the gap between tradition and more contemporary culture – and urban and rural life - but as the film progresses this conflict is resolved with the boy coming to feel much sympathy towards his grandmother.   

Fried Chicken in Korea along with beer known as Chimaek (bringing together Chi (from chicken) and maek (the first syllable of beer in Korean) is immensely popular among tourists in Korea possibly because it has a unique Korean flavor in its spicy marinated sauces but has its origins in American culture. It goes back to the 1950s after the Korean War, but it was after the IMF crisis in the 1990s that saw large numbers of fried chicken restaurants opening after workers were laid off. The legacy of that is still felt to this day given the large numbers of chicken restaurants in the country with there being 39,789 in 2023 though marking a fall on previous years. Such fried chicken restaurants appear in wider Korean content – All of Us are Dead (2022), Moving (2023).

Lee Byeong-heon’s Extreme Job set in a fried chicken restaurant was a surprise box office hit amassing 16 million admissions becoming the second most popular Korean film of all time. A team of narcotics officers go undercover working in a fried chicken restaurant to try and bring down a criminal organization but when one of their marinated chicken recipes becomes a hit with customers, the establishment turns into a hot place attracting large numbers of people.

Crucial to the success of Korean films and content in Korea is the local elements wrapped in an engaging story, which is on display in Extreme Job. As Korean content becomes more global, this is a key ingredient too for international viewers.

Korean Barbeque - Memories of Murder, People and Meat

While Korean barbeque is not for everyone it has become synonymous with the food culture in Korea and it is in an array of Korean films as characters attend work gatherings (Hwesiks) sometimes to celebrate an achievement like the team does at the end of The Roundup (2022), or it could be friends, colleagues, family members coming together. Or sometimes it is people eating alone as is the case in Memories of Murder towards the end of the film where one of the detectives is in a restaurant when his partner played by Song Kang-ho enters realizing he doesn’t have meat at his table.  

Earlier on in the film, the team that are investigating the murders in Hwaseong in the 1980s are eating in the same restaurant. The scene begins with a shot of beef tenderloin being cooked on a grill pan. This shot immediately follows a scene in a morgue where a victim’s body is laying as the detectives search for clues illustrating how Bong uses food in unconventional and wide-ranging ways echoing his wider approach to filmmaking that remains a draw for international viewers. In the aforementioned scene towards the end, a fight breaks out in the restaurant leading to the detective being struck by a piece of wood with a nail in it leading to tetanus. His leg is later amputated creating a curious link between meat, the human body and the theme of violence that permeates throughout the film.

In what is a very different feature highlighting the breadth of Korean cinema, Yang Jong-hyun’s People and Meat that was released in October centers on older characters who are struggling to make ends meet as it deals with the poverty the older generation face with little in the way of welfare support. It follows a trio played by Park Keun-hyong, Jang Yong and Ye Su-jeong as they hatch plans to leave barbeque restaurants without paying.

In what is often a humorous adventure, they are able to enjoy plenty of meat in restaurants across their neighborhood but inevitably they are caught bringing an end to their operations. The film attracted notice overseas having premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year before it then screened at the Busan International Film Festival in September.

Noodles - One Fine Spring Day, Castaway on the Moon, Parasite

Soups, stews and noodles are equally commonly seen in Korean films. Internationally noodles, in particular, attract notice perhaps reflecting the wider appeal noodles have overseas. They are also easier to prepare with Ramyeon being an instant noodle and people sometimes have their own preferences; be it adding an egg or a slice of cheese. 

Hur Jin-ho made the so-called Ramyeon trilogy with One Fine Spring Day (2001), April Snow (2005) and Happiness (2007) in which the noodle is a running motif in the three melodramas. In One Fine Spring Day about the relationship between a radio host (Lee Young-ae) and a sound engineer (Yoo Ji-tae) the line “Would you like to eat Ramyeon?” became famous for meaning “Would you like to come in?”

Chinese Korean food too has appeared in Korean films. The Chinese dumplings served as a motif in Oldboy becoming a key part of the narrative as it provides the protagonist (Choi Min-sik) with the clue from which he finds out where he was imprisoned.

One of the most well-known Chinese Korean dishes is the noodles in black bean sauce called Jjajangmyeon. The noodles are usually cheap and it’s a popular dish for delivery and can be accompanied by crispy deep-fried pork, Tangsuyuk. In Korea, people often order the combo when they move house bringing good fortune. Jjajangmyeon can also be consumed as instant noodles.

This is all captured in amusing fashion in Lee Hae-jun’s Castaway on the Moon. The main character (Jung Jae-young) attempts to commit suicide by throwing himself off a bridge into the River Han but ends up being stranded on an island in the river near Yeouido in Seoul. There he finds an empty packet of instant Jjajangmyeon noodles and manages to crow the crops on the island to make the noodles. Later on being watched by a young woman (Jung Ryeo-won) in an apartment looking over the river she orders him Jjajangmyeon with the delivery man having to pedal over in a small duck boat.

One of the most famous scenes in a Korean film involving a noodle is in Parasite with the “ramdon” (Jjapaguri) combination going viral on social media in the runup to the film’s Oscar-winning finale. In the film, the newly hired housekeeper (Jang Hye-jin) has to hurriedly make one of the family’s favorite dishes bringing together different instant noodles: Jjapagetti and Neoguri and adding Korean Hanwoo beef giving it that it that upper social class connotation. Again, Bong Joon Ho creates an unforgettable moment in a film fusing together different foods and styles.

Snacks – JSA  

There are numerous other dishes and eating customs that are portrayed in Korean films. Kimchi as a side dish is captured in several films including Marrying the Mafia 3 (2006) and Le Grand Chef 2: Kimchi Battle (2010). A young girl searching for beansprouts is beautifully captured in Yoon Ga-eun’s short Sprout (2013). Korea’s street food including Tteokbokki (Spicy Korean rice cakes) provides a crucial clue to the rookie detectives in Midnight Runners (2017) in their search for a young woman. Korea’s late-night drinking shown through Pojangmachas (tent bars) are a frequent backdrop in Korean content; from A Fine Windy Day (1980) to Squid Game (2021-2025).

Even snacks can play a role in a narrative as seen with the Choco Pie scene in Park Chan-wook’s JSA (2000) when a North Korean solider played by Song Kang-ho spits it out after the South Korean sergeant (Lee Byung-hun) suggests he defects. That way he can eat all of the Choco Pies he wants. The snack is produced by the Chaebol Orion was inspired by America’s chocolate sweets back in the 1970s signifying Korea’s wider cultural relationship with the US. The North Korean reacts furiously underlying the themes of division in the film despite the bond they both share. It's a scene layered with meaning and significance demonstrating how Korean films featuring Korean food signify wider themes relating to its culture, history and social issues that continue to fascinate audiences far and wide.

Written by Jason Bechervaise

Edited by kofic