Translation app gets restaurant menu upgrade

Naver's translation app Papago has added a service to help tourists understand Korean menus, in partnership with the Culture Ministry and the Korea Tourism Organization.

The service is uses the app's image translate function. Users can take a picture of a Korean menu to translate it as normal, but tapping "select all" at the bottom brings up a "Food info" tab, with translations that have been tailored for food, and provides additional information about some of the dishes.

The service currently supports translation into English, Chinese (simplified and traditional) and Japanese.

The food info tab also includes links to the KTO's “Food Trip in Korea” website, which has detailed information on popular Korean dishes, including recipes and how to enjoy each dish.

"We will work to add 500 new items to the list in the first half of next year, and also carry out another menu translation project with the restaurant reservation app Catchtable, for users to conveniently book restaurants while in Korea," the leader of KTO's tourism strategy team said.

Meanwhile, an e-book version of KTO's 2021 publication, "Standards for Translating Foods in Korea," a handbook of official translations of Korean food in foreign languages, can also be found on the KTO's food trip website. Restaurant operators can also create a foreign language version of their menu for free by following the instructions on the website.