Blend of IT and culture at luncheon

The luncheon for the Korea-ASEAN special summit at Nurimaru, a restaurant in Haeundae, Busan, was presented as a full table featuring the Korean culture and IT. The luncheon menu was customized to suit the tastes of each leader based on traditional Korean fare by a traditional Korean cuisine expert.

Among ASEAN nations, leaders of Islamic nations are highly sensitive about whether the ingredients are Halal (following the Islamic rules for food) and whether they contain alcohol. The luncheon table provided separately to each leader took care of such issues. The table especially manufactured as a media table displayed images with the menu and ingredients in the language of each country as each course was presented. The interior decorations at the luncheon site were handled by media LED screens instead of the usual silk screens. The eight-sheet screen was fashioned using LED television, providing the sound of the traditional Korean string instrument Gayageum with traditional paintings of flowers and birds, thereby allowing lunch with a taste of Korean culture.

The first lady event was an IT-combined surprise event. The first ladies, who arrived at a film hall in Haeundae, Busan, were welcomed by Hallyu star Jang Keun-suk at the entrance. They were surprised to see film posters featuring their photographic images at the entrance. To keep the poster event under wraps, Korean organizers had misled them when they requested the photographs, telling them the photos would be used for a guidebook. The film posters using the first ladies’ pictures are reportedly the idea of Cho Yoon-sun, the senior presidential secretary for political affairs.