[Courtesy of Korea Tourism Organization]
The number of Muslim-friendly restaurants providing complete or partial halal menus has more than doubled across South Korea, helped by a government campaign to attract more tourists from Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
The state-run Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) said 117 new restaurants has joined a government certification system, bringing to 252 the total number of Muslim-friendly restaurants, according to the state-run Korea Tourism Organization (KTO).
The agency has adopted a rating system to divide Muslim-friendly restaurants into four categories including complete halal restaurants certified by the Korea Muslim Federation and those who provide halal dishes and others together. Halal food is free of ingredients that are not permissible under Islamic law.
In recent years, more Muslims have visited South Korea thanks to the growing popularity of Korean pop culture "Hallyu". The number of Muslim tourists coming to South Korea rose from 540,000 in 2012 to 750,000 in 2014 and 980,000 in 2016. The government has issued an official recipe book to expand halal menus in tourists destinations and hospitals.
Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
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