Students from the Department of Theater and Acting at Kookje University perform a dynamic 'Samul Fantasy' based on traditional Korean percussion instruments. [Photo by Lim Yo-hee]

In an era where regional decline and the crisis facing universities are discussed simultaneously, a university in Eumseong, Chungbuk, is joining hands with the local community to present an innovative K-culture festival targeting the global audience.

Kookje University will host the 'Gamgok K-Culture Festival: Freshly Baked Peaches' for three days from September 12th to 14th at its Gamgok campus in Eumseong, Chungbuk, to celebrate its 30th anniversary.

This festival is a new concept K-culture festival model, the first in Korea to be led by a regional university and completed with the participation of residents. A press preview was held on the 19th prior to the festival.

The festival is significant in that a total of 10 departments, including Design, Cartoon & Animation, Theater & Acting, Hotel & Culinary Arts, and Clinical Pathology, have jointly conducted R&D for the past year to develop a diverse range of content.

Results of 1-Year R&D by 10 Departments

The Department of Korean Cuisine Standardization, newly established as the first of its kind in Korea, will operate a special experience booth in collaboration with the Department of Aviation Services during the festival. The booth will be decorated as a space replicating the interior of an actual aircraft's first and business class cabins, allowing visitors to temporarily become airborne passengers and experience "scientific K-in-flight meals" with all five senses.

Students from the Department of Aviation Services in flight attendant uniforms conduct an in-flight safety briefing for passengers in an aircraft set, and then serve 'Spicy Pollack Soup' in-flight meals to the passengers. [Photo by Lim Yo-hee]Based on the scientific fact that human taste buds become dulled in the low-pressure, dry environment of an airplane cabin, the Department of Korean Cuisine Standardization will present meticulously designed Korean menus that can maintain their savory flavor and richness even during flights.

The "Spicy Pollack Soup," unveiled to the press on the 19th, was praised for breaking the limitations of existing convenience foods and successfully capturing the deep flavor of slowly simmered gomtang by standardizing all broths and seasonings into solid and concentrated forms.

Reporters who participated in the tasting were amazed by how precisely traditional, hand-dependent Korean recipes were quantified and standardized, with some remarking it tasted even better than freshly made pollack soup.

In addition to the in-flight meal tasting, students from the Department of Aviation Services, dressed as flight attendants, conducted in-flight safety briefings for passengers in the set. Reporters who participated as test passengers had the opportunity to learn safety knowledge in preparation for emergencies, including trying on the yellow emergency equipment they had only seen before.

Recipe Development Using Local Specialty Products

The Department of Hotel & Culinary Arts and the Department of Clinical Pathology will present joint products such as peach wine, peach makgeolli, peach bread, and peach bibimmyeon, utilizing the local specialty "Hetsare peaches."

During this reveal, the Department of Hotel & Culinary Arts and the Department of Clinical Pathology presented bread, bibimmyeon, and wine using Eumseong's local specialty products. At the bottom, Professor Bong Jun-ho of the Department of Hotel & Culinary Arts explains the special bibim sauce made with Eumseong gochujang. [Photo by Lim Yo-hee]

The peach wine is characterized by its refreshing taste, with a subtle acidity following the delicate sweetness of Hetsare peaches. It paired exceptionally well with the pollack soup and salmon steak served as in-flight meals, receiving high praise from the tasting panel.

Specialty bakery items such as cookies, salt bread, and pies, made with 100% Hetsare peaches, also received much acclaim. The peach salt bread, in particular, was lauded for maximizing the "sweet and salty" appeal with its crispy exterior and moist butter salt bread base, subtly infused with the peachy tartness and sweetness.

Furthermore, the 'Hetsare Peach Bibimmyeon Sauce' developed by Kookje University's Department of Hotel & Culinary Arts is a special bibim sauce using Hetsare peaches and Eumseong chili peppers, local specialty products. It significantly reduces the use of corn syrup and utilizes the natural, deep sweetness of peaches. The tasting panel eagerly consumed multiple bowls of bibimmyeon due to its non-offensive sweetness and subtle fruit aroma, leading to a situation where the ingredients ran out.

The products developed by Kookje University are part of a win-win project with local farmers and bakeries in the Gamgok region. They are significant in that they successfully transform imperfect, fallen peaches into bakery ingredients or wine and vinegar through patented processing technology and proprietary low-temperature aging recipes.

Professor Bong Jun-ho of the Department of Hotel & Culinary Arts expressed his pleasure, stating, "Through this project, we are able to provide new sales channels for farmers and offer differentiated culinary experiences to consumers. Starting with the development of these bakery products, we plan to expand the lineup of various Hetsare processed foods in the future."

The developed peach bakery products are expected to establish themselves as "special local delicacies only available in Gamgok" for tourists visiting Gamgok and dessert enthusiasts among the MZ generation.

Students on the Verge of Earning Copyright Royalties

Under the guidance of Professor Kim Jin-a, students from the Department of Beauty held a scent testing event for perfumes they developed, featuring peach fragrance. Most of the students who participated in the scent testing were international students from faraway countries such as Nepal and Uzbekistan, who are studying at Kookje University to learn K-beauty. The university has decided to award scholarships to students who receive high scores at this scent testing event.

Meanwhile, the Department of Cartoon & Animation unveiled character IPs "Got-gun" and "Peach-yang," modern reinterpretations of the traditional folktale of Jaringobi.

Yoon Chae-bin (2nd year), whose character 'Peach Girl Peach-yang' passed the Naver OGQ screening, holds up merchandise featuring the Peach-yang character. [Photo by Lim Yo-hee]

Yoon Chae-bin (2nd year) passed the Naver OGQ screening with her character "Peach Girl Peach-yang." She had attempted it once in middle school and failed, and this was her second attempt, which led to success and the ability to release her character to the world.

Naver OGQ Market allows creators to upload their original emoticons (stickers), images, and fonts to the OGQ Creator Studio for sale, and receive copyright royalties (approximately 70%) for each content sold. Yoon Chae-bin expressed her ambition, stating, "I will continue to hone my skills diligently to grow into an excellent illustrator and animator."

The "Gamgok Festival: Freshly Baked Peaches" festival, which involves 2,000 residents from Hetsare peach farms and the Gamgok region, along with 2,000 Kookje University students participating in a "joint creation structure," will be preceded by a preliminary event in Sri Lanka in August and followed by the main event in Gamgok in September. This small festival is promoting the university, increasing regional income, and exporting K-culture. It is not far from becoming a model for domestic festivals.

At the press conference held in the main conference room of Kookje University, President Ryu Ki-il briefs on the '2026 Gamgok K-Culture Festival Freshly Baked Peaches'. [Photo by Lim Yo-hee]

Merchandise created with the character IPs 'Got-gun' and 'Peach-yang', modern reinterpretations of the traditional folktale of Jaringobi. [Photo by Lim Yo-hee]

Commemorative photo after the tour. [Photo by Joint Press Corps]

Eumseong = Reporter Lim Yo-hee