450,000 peoople flocked to annual Wonju Dumpling Festival

[Anchor]

A special festival was held in Wonju, Gangwon-do Province.

Started last year, it is the only dumpling festival in the country.

Reporter Lee Cheong-cho visited the festival site.

[Report]

Inside the steam, the dumplings look delicious.

Colorful fried dumplings sizzle on the iron plate.

Dumplings are a seasonal delicacy at this chilly time of year.

Although they are the same dumplings, its appearance and taste differs, depending on who makes them.

[Jeon In-sook/Festival Participating Merchant: "I made them just like my mom did, and when you lightly brush sesame oil on the dumplings when they are cold and eat them with soy sauce, they are really delicious."]

Following last year, the annual Wonju Dumpling Festival, was held for the second time.

More than 100 types of dumplings were prepared under 10 different themes.

At one location in the festival, unique dumplings combined with traditional foods from various countries such as Nepal and Vietnam were also showcased.

There were spots to make and eat dumplings, and even a dumpling-eating contest.

[Song Seong-jin/Sungbuk-gu, Seoul: "I went up to try to win first place in the dumpling-eating contest, but it’s not easy to win among such strong competitors. It was fun."]

Dumplings became Wonju's representative food right after the Korean War.

Dumplings made from flour supplied by U.S. military bases led to the dumpling alley in the central market.

From pheasant dumplings to knife-cut noodles and kimchi dumplings, all are famous dumplings that Wonju takes pride in.

[Shin Hyun-sik/2024 Wonju Dumpling Festival Director: "We are trying to connect five traditional markets and move towards becoming a food city, a place where people can enjoy food, in the old downtown."]

The Korean kimchi dumplings made it onto CNN's selection of the world's tastiest dumplings list this year.

The city of Wonju plans to further expand the dumpling festival and globalize it.

This is KBS News Lee Cheong-cho.