Korail presents new train trip for Korean ‘jang’ experience

Korail Tourism Development, a subsidiary of Korea Railroad Corp., is offering a two-day train trip to experience the country’s “jang” culture, the traditional Korean methods of making fermented pastes and sauces, from Dec. 13 to 14.

Developed in collaboration with the Korean Food Promotion Institute and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, this one-time train trip will bring tourists to Damyang and Sunchang, North Jeolla Province -- two iconic locations in South Korea’s jang culture. It's a unique gastronomic journey and a chance to learn about the sauces that are so central to Korean cuisine.

The round-trip excursion is scheduled to start at Yongsan Station at 8 a.m.

The tour will explore different areas of Damyang, including the iconic Juknokwon bamboo forest, an outstanding year-round destination for an immersive forest walk. Visitors will also be taken to Naeda village for a chance to pick up rice straw handicrafts and try a lunch of “daetongbap,” or rice steamed in a bamboo tube.

Afterwards, the tour stops at a veritable institution of jang culture to learn about a traditional sauce made from a recipe passed down by the ancestors of jang master Ki Soon-do for 370 years.

Visitors can not only learn the sauce’s history but also taste a variety of jang-themed dishes.

Dinner will feature Damyang’s tteokgalbi, or short rib patties.

The second day will be a trip to the neighboring county of Sunchang to taste several kinds of local jang -- ganjang (soy sauce), doenjang (soybean paste) and gochujang (chile paste). The visit to Sunchang also includes a stop at the Onggi Experience Center to learn about and try making the traditional earthenware in which jang are fermented, followed by a rejuvenating footbath at Gangcheon Healing Spa.

The all-inclusive train trip is priced at 232,000 won ($165.54) per person. Online reservations can be made on the official website of Korail Tourism Development.

This jang-themed train trip marks the first tourism product of K-Food Travel -- a promotion launched by the Agriculture Ministry and the Korean Food Promotion Institute to encourage local and overseas tourists to experience Korean food.

The ministry and the Korean food agency are scheduled to create a total of 30 tourism products through 2032.