"My husband likes Shin Ramyun, and the kids like Chapagetti and Tumba. It's not often even in Gumi that you can buy 'freshly fried ramyeon,' so as soon as I heard about the festival, I rushed over. I barely bought it after waiting 50 minutes."
On the 7th at 2:20 p.m., housewife Kim Hyo-jung, 57, whom we met in front of the "freshly fried ramyeon stand" set up at the Gumi Ramyeon Festival held near Gumi Station in Gumi, North Gyeongsang, said, "I came last year too, and this year the quality of food using ramyeon has been upgraded, and there's more to see, so it was worth looking around. It's really nice because we can also promote Gumi." A native of Gumi for 57 years, Kim said she was going to the "ramyeon workshop" with a transparent plastic bag carrying six bundles of ramyeon. That's because if you purchase more than 20,000 won worth of products, you can make ramyeon packaged with "my own recipe."
Every corner of the festival grounds was filled with the distinctive spicy aroma of K ramyeon. A 475-meter stretch around Gumi Station, where traffic was controlled, turned into a "world's longest ramyeon restaurant" street. Dishes combining local and global foods—such as tomato Mediterranean ramyeon, beef brisket spicy soft tofu ramyeon, pad thai ramyeon, and stir-fried ramyeon bread—were being made. The ordering kiosks for ramyeon showed lines like "51 people waiting for premium Korean beef, known as hanwoo large-intestine yaki ramyeon," and "90 people waiting for honey pear LA galbi jjajang ramyeon," reflecting how the festival captured visitors' palates.
Kim Min-seo, 25, a staffer at the cafe Market May, which joined the festival with Geumosan stir-fried ramyeon bread as its signature menu, said, "We sold more than 3,000 pieces of ramyeon bread at last year's festival, and after the festival, customers who visited our Geumosan cafe were disappointed, asking, 'Don't you sell ramyeon bread in the store?' so we decided to participate again this year." She added, "A wide variety of people bought a lot—from families and older customers to foreigners and visitors from Seoul."
◇ From the slurping contest in "KDH" to tasting kimchi fried noodles
Now in its fourth year, the Gumi Ramyeon Festival is a local event planned with the idea that Gumi, North Gyeongsang, is home to the country's largest Nongshim Gumi Plant. On the opening day on the 7th alone, 90,000 people flocked to it, cementing its status as Gumi's representative festival. It is also the only ramyeon festival held in an urban center in Korea. According to Gumi City, the festival drew 170,000 visitors last year. Spending reached 1.5 billion won.
Gumi Mayor Kim Jang-ho said, "I heard that Shin Ramyun ranked No. 1 in recognition in the United States, and the idea of using that as a breakthrough for Gumi's development is what started the Gumi Ramyeon Festival," adding, "Gumi is the city that makes the most Shin Ramyun. We plan to continue the festival so it can help regional development."
Yun Seong-jin, head of planning for the Gumi Ramyeon Festival, also said, "As Gumi, once an industrial city, has created a virtuous cycle of attracting tourists and elevating the city brand through the ramyeon festival, we will ensure industry leads to culture and culture leads back to industry."
At 3 p.m. that day, a "slurping contest" was also held, inspired by the scene where the characters Huntrix (Rumi, Mira, Joy) from the Netflix animated film "K-pop Demon Hunters," which ignited the K-ramyeon craze, eat ramyeon. When about 10 participants simultaneously grabbed the noodles in their cup ramyeon and stuffed their mouths full, people around them exclaimed, "They're really eating deliciously," and "It's amazing how they can eat hot ramyeon that fast."
At this year's festival, Nongshim's new product "Shin Ramyun kimchi fried noodles" was unveiled for the first time. At Nongshim's "Shin Ramyun snack bar" booth, there was also a tasting event where visitors could try the kimchi fried noodles. Oh Eun-ji, senior manager on Nongshim's Soup Development Team 3, said, "It's a 'swycy (Spicy+Sweet)' concept that adds the savory taste of fried kimchi to Shin Ramyun's spiciness," adding, "We newly developed a kimchi paste process to reproduce the aroma of actual fried kimchi."
Johan Yurben, 22, a university student from Sweden in Korea as an exchange student, said, "I came to Korea because I like K-pop and then got hooked on kimchi, so I had high expectations when I heard it was Shin Ramyun combined with kimchi," adding, "I expected a crispy texture like 'fried rice,' but the different texture was interesting."
◇ Nongshim Gumi Plant with 90% process automation using AI and robots
All the "freshly fried ramyeon" used at the festival is provided by Nongshim. The Nongshim Gumi Plant is considered a key hub that handles about 75% of total ramyeon production, including Shin Ramyun. It operates a total of 16 production lines, including eight for bag noodles, four for cup noodles, and four for snacks. Its daily production capacity is 6.65 million units. Of these, bag noodle output alone reaches 4.67 million.
In particular, the Gumi Plant has introduced an AI-based smart factory system, boosting process automation to 90%. It is equipped with eight AI analysis systems for production processes and eight industrial robots. Kim Sang-hoon, head of the Nongshim Gumi Plant, explained, "With the automated process, Shin Ramyun products are completed about 35 minutes after the flour comes in," adding, "We have introduced a real-name system for workers across all processes and quality inspection robots to strengthen production efficiency and quality control."
The Gumi Plant produces 43 types of products, including snacks, cookies, and ramyeon. Last year's production value was about 844.2 billion won. Nongshim plans to expand its global strategy for exporting K ramyeon with the goal of growing the Gumi Plant into a 1 trillion won annual production facility by 2028.
Sim Gyu-cheol, head of global marketing at Nongshim, said, "Shin Ramyun is a brand that embodies Korea's taste, language, and sentiment," adding, "Shin Ramyun, which started in Gumi, an industrial city, is now exported to more than 100 countries and has become a symbol of K ramyeon. In addition to the Gumi Ramyeon Festival, we plan to participate in overseas festivals such as the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival, the Sapporo Snow Festival, and the Quebec Winter Carnival."