As Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is reportedly set to meet leading domestic corporations at a samgyeopsal restaurant in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, on the 5th, Korea's barbecue group-dining culture is drawing renewed attention.
Overseas, the Korean-style grilling culture known as "Korean barbecue (K-BBQ)" has already established itself as a dining genre, and the restaurant industry expects that this "sam-ssō (samgyeopsal + soju) meeting," like the earlier "gganbu meeting," will further fuel global interest in K-food.
According to related industries on the 2nd, Huang is said to be likely to meet with Chey Tae-won, SK Group chairman, Koo Kwang-mo, LG Group chairman, and Lee Hae-jin, Naver chairman, on the 5th. Chung Eui-sun, Hyundai Motor Group chairman, and Park Jeong-won, Doosan Group chairman, are also reportedly considering attending. However, Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Jae-yong is said to be unable to attend due to overseas commitments. A samgyeopsal restaurant in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, is being strongly mentioned as the venue.
Recently, overseas consumers have shown interest not only in eating Korean food but also in experiencing Korea's dining culture. Whereas attention once focused on "menus" themselves such as bibimbap and bulgogi, analysis suggests the trend has expanded to experiencing how Koreans eat and socialize. K-BBQ is taking root not just as food but as content for experiencing Korean-style company dinners and social culture. This is attributed to heightened interest in Korean food through K-pop and K-dramas, as well as growing demand to experience Korea's food culture and lifestyle.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT), as of the end of last year, 139 domestic Korean dining brands had entered overseas markets, operating 4,644 stores. They have expanded to 56 countries. In particular, the United States has emerged as the largest market for Korean dining brands. As of the end of last year, 56 brands had entered the U.S. The number of Korean dining brand stores in the U.S. rose from 528 in 2020 to 1,106 last year, more than doubling and overtaking China, previously considered the largest market.
Interest abroad in Korean food is also rising. According to the results of the "2025 Overseas Korean Food Consumer Survey" released by the ministry and the Korea Food Promotion Institute (KFPI), the share of foreigners who said they know Korean food was 68.6 percent, a record high. Satisfaction among overseas consumers who have experienced Korean food reached 94.2 percent.
Industry assessments say that following chicken, kimchi, and bibimbap, K-BBQ is becoming one of the most familiar Korean food categories for overseas consumers. The fact that the U.S. corporation and Nasdaq-listed GEN Restaurant Group operates the Korean barbecue chain "GEN Korean BBQ House" nationwide while expanding its business is cited as an example of K-BBQ's popularity. In materials for investors, the company introduced K-BBQ not as simple food but as "an experience where people gather to grill meat and have fun together."
A restaurant industry source said, "The Korean meat culture of grilling the meat yourself and sharing it with a group is one of the experiences foreign tourists want to try," adding, "In the past, interest focused on traditional Korean menu items like bibimbap or bulgogi, but lately there is growing demand to experience how Koreans eat and socialize."
In particular, the industry sees a strong possibility that if this "sam-ssō meeting" is actually held at a franchise brand, it could lead to a marketing effect similar to how Korean chicken culture drew renewed attention after the gganbu meeting last year. Some also expect marketing such as launching an "AI planning set," leveraging the chimaek set Huang ate at the time.
The industry is also paying attention to the fact that Seongsu is being mentioned as the meeting place. Over the past few years, Seongsu has emerged as a representative cultural and consumer hub of Seoul as flagship stores (key brand stores) and pop-up stores (temporary stores) of global fashion and beauty brands have clustered there. It has become one of the must-visit areas for foreign tourists after Myeong-dong and Gangnam, and is seen as a commercial district where global brands gauge reactions in the Korean market.
A food industry official said, "In the past, when overseas VIPs visited Korea, hotel banquets or upscale traditional Korean restaurants were the main venues, but recently the trend has shifted to casual group dinners in places like Seongsu or Hannam-dong that showcase Korea's current culture and consumer trends," adding, "Huang considering a samgyeopsal restaurant in Seongsu as the meeting venue appears to be in the same vein."
Hwang Yong-sik, a professor of business administration at Sejong University, said, "Samgyeopsal and Seongsu are a cuisine and a place that can simultaneously showcase Korea's youthful consumer culture and mass appeal," adding, "Just as global consumers refocused on Korean chicken culture after the gganbu meeting, this samgyeopsal meeting also has a strong chance of being expanded and reproduced into diverse content."