The 2011 Congress of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements was held in South Korea

In 2008, I joined the Association of Taiwan Organic Agriculture Promotion (ATOAP), along with Chairman Chen Shih-hsiung and fourteen other members, and traveled to Modena in north-central Italy to attend the 16th IFOAM International Conference. Our main goal was to bid for the right to host the 2011 conference in Taiwan. Facing extreme disadvantage, all the team members worked together with unmatched unity and a passionate, competitive spirit that still moves me to this day.

Up against South Korea's overwhelming strength, backed by central government officials, provincial governors, mayors, and the entire organic agriculture sector's manpower, resources, and national support, we fought hard but lost. In the depths of that loss, I felt the helplessness and resignation of a lone official unable to turn back the tide of heaven. At the same time, I reflected on the fact that among all the organic groups worldwide, South Korea was willing to fight with all its might for the right to host, which surely meant it had real capability and ambition for developing the organic industry.

The memory of that failed bid is still fresh, and the organic gathering in Modena, with its countryside and castles, also left a deep impression. Before I knew it, three years had passed, and in 2011 I traveled to South Korea with mixed feelings of complexity and curiosity to attend the 17th IFOAM International Conference. In just a few days of observation, I had much on my mind and felt a great deal. 

First Impressions of South Korea

On October 1, 2011, I flew from Taoyuan to South Korea. Arriving at Incheon Airport and stepping onto South Korean soil, everywhere I looked, all the road signs, advertisements, and promotional materials were exclusively in Korean, along with the taegeuk-patterned flag. I felt as if I had walked into a completely unfamiliar and distant country, unable to take a single step. At the same time, I also sensed South Korea's strong determination for self-respect, self-esteem, and insistence on putting national culture above all. This single impression was deeply branded into my thoughts and feelings. The national cohesion of South Korean citizens far surpasses that of Taiwan, where freedom has gone to excess. Their unity gives them great strength, and South Korea's position among the Four Asian Tigers is backed by real capability and conditions.

We took a bus through a tiring journey of more than two hours to reach the city center, then took a taxi to Namyangju, to the hotel arranged by IFOAM. The surroundings were a gray, misty rural landscape, an area with no industry or commerce, mainly agricultural. When we arrived at the inn, the accommodation was as remote and plain as the area itself, just like an ordinary home. 

An Encounter with Former IFOAM President Katherine from the United States

The next morning at the hotel, I happened to meet the former president, Ms. Katherine from the United States. We had met three years earlier in Italy. She is a very friendly and admirable person who always extends a hand of friendship and treats others with courtesy. She deeply appreciated and recognized the performance of the Taiwan members in Italy, and so, at the invitation of Association Chairman Chen Shih-hsiung the year before last, she visited Taiwan twice, bringing us spiritual warmth. I remember that when she visited Taiwan the weather was cold, so I respectfully gave her a cotton-padded jacket. She took one look and said she liked the color and style, put it on right there, and it fit her perfectly and looked lovely.

When we met today at the venue, she brought this up again, and even said that she wears it every time she attends important conferences around the world. Clearly she liked it, and I felt I had given the right gift to the right person. The two of us hit it off immediately, and it felt very heartwarming and warm.

International Attendees Praise the Pride of Taiwanese

At this conference, Dr. Chen Shih-hsiung, Chairman of the Association of Taiwan Organic Agriculture Promotion, was highly respected and admired in the international organic industry because he frequently gives speeches and lectures in international organic circles. With his good connections and strong abilities, he was recommended by the conference as one of its chairpersons. Among so many heavyweight international figures, being chosen as one of the conference's two chairpersons was a highly honorable distinction. That was not all: during the conference, an international attendee actually praised Chairman Chen on the conference floor, affirming his ability and attitude in presiding over proceedings. This heartfelt praise is Chairman Chen's glory, a rare honor for Taiwan on the international stage, and also Taiwan's pride.

A Glimpse of the Organic Ecological Village

Today we also took part in an organic ecology tour. In Pyeongyang Village, the hills are not high and the land is not flat. Rice is grown once a year, and during the slack season, napa cabbage, rapeseed flowers, and other crops are planted. This time we happened to see rice fields heavy with grain, the rice ears golden and plump. This may have been related to the mild, sunny weather during heading and pollination. There are few typhoon disasters here, so the rice grows well. Stepping on the farmland, it was soft and just right, with clear water and clean soil, a truly organic farmland. The field ridges were covered with green weeds, and there were even field snails in the paddies, showing that the farmers had not sprayed herbicides. From this small detail, one can see that their organic farming practices deserve recognition.

The conference also arranged for pounding mochi, that is, Hakka ciba, made from glutinous rice. The process is much the same: after steaming the glutinous rice, it is pressed on a flat board to increase the rice's density, then pounded into a rice cake with no grains left. It is flattened, sliced, and coated with soybean powder to become a local traditional rice food. In Taiwan, a pestle and mortar are used to pound it vigorously into a rice cake, then small balls are pinched off one by one and coated with peanut powder and rice bran to make mochi. The same rice, the same mochi, but different times and countries produce different methods, showing that food culture develops local variations according to different people, places, and times. 

Rice Wine and Kimchi

The conference arranged visits to rice wine brewing and kimchi facilities. In fact, both rice wine and kimchi are part of local farmers' traditional diet. To them, they are everyday life and culture, nothing unusual at all. But once given cultural meaning and packaged and promoted, the products' added value increases. They turned traditional agricultural dietary practices into local features that people can visit and learn from, very successfully shaping the commercial potential of agricultural industry culture.

South Koreans know very well how to protect their own interests. The conference arranged for us to see a rice wine and kimchi factory, but we were unable to see the actual kimchi-making process. In the vast kimchi factory, we only saw a video presentation. Looking outward at South Korea and reflecting inward on ourselves, perhaps our agricultural techniques should also emulate their mindset of protecting their rights and interests. 

A Small Place Is a Big World

After harvesting one crop, South Korean farmland is planted with napa cabbage for making kimchi, and afterward with rapeseed flowers as green manure. This is an unchanging way of life that has lasted for ages, and also their inherent rural culture. I remember that at international competitions, South Korean athletes repeatedly achieved outstanding results, and they emphasized that this was thanks to Korean kimchi. As a result, Korean kimchi has become synonymous with South Korea, uniquely popular around the world. What a successful and remarkable cultural traditional industry this is.

From this kimchi visit, though it was only a fleeting glance, through overall integrated reflection, I realized that kimchi is an almost indispensable dish on their dining tables. We often say that salted foods can easily cause cancer and should be eaten sparingly. But according to local reports, they have very few cancer patients. Middle-aged and elderly people, especially women, all have thick, dark hair, and few go bald early. They are also healthy and accomplished, which may be related to everyone eating kimchi!? 

According to the video presentation, local farmers are very particular about authentic farming methods for growing napa cabbage, producing safe and healthy kimchi ingredients. The pickling process adheres strictly to traditional methods, done conscientiously and without carelessness, using natural fermentation and no chemical additives. As a result, the kimchi produced is safe, tasty, and authentic in flavor. No wonder it has become a national dish and swept the world. In the video of the kimchi production process, I noticed that South Korean kimchi cultivation, production, and manufacturing are truly conscientious because good products create opportunities. An unremarkable processed agricultural product has brought them high recognition and high consumer spending power. From a small kimchi, one can see a big picture; a small place becomes a big world.

Sun-Drying Grain, Pears, and Doubanjiang

On a country road in Namyangju, I suddenly felt as if I had entered a dream in a time tunnel. I seemed to return to my childhood, going back with my mother to my grandmother's home in a poor mountain village, where I saw grain spread out to dry under the open sun in the rice-drying yard in front of the house. The warmth and light of the sun had been the energy source for drying rice in my hometown for thousands of years. Our ancestors made good use of it, and for ages the sun selflessly provided free heat energy, and farmers instinctively used the sun's heat to dry grain and clothes. This scene has vanished from my hometown in Taiwan; these sights have become memories. But on a farm in Namyangju, I was stunned to see it. Truly, a flood of mixed emotions came over me, my eyes lit up, and I missed my grandmother a little.

Sun-dried grain, from the warm morning sun each day to the scorching midday sun, and then to the cooling dusk sunset, uses a natural drying method that is ecological. So when eaten, it has a sun-baked flavor, that is, an old-time flavor. In South Korea, I saw sun-dried rice here but could not taste it. I felt that in modern South Korea, the common people stubbornly preserve tradition and insist on culture. 

We then visited a private soy sauce factory one after another. The scale was not large, but the open-air yard was filled with rows of covered ceramic jars. At a glance one could tell that these were containers for fermenting soy sauce and doubanjiang. This sight was also common everywhere in Taiwan in earlier years, but in recent times it has been swept away by large enterprises, making it hard to sustain, and one by one they closed down.

According to the explanation, the factory still uses traditional brewing methods, holding firmly to its principles, unswayed by modern chemical flavorings and preservatives, and following traditional methods. The brewing process, from selecting ingredients, manufacturing, fermentation, to the finished product, follows the rules and is run uprightly without adding flavorings. Only on the sauce jars and fermented beans do they place local ancient pine needles. The pine needles are light and elegant in fragrance, and blended into the doubanjiang fermentation, they must give a mellow, simple flavor. That is why the soy sauce and doubanjiang produced by the sauce factory are widely recognized. No wonder it has the survival wisdom of being deeply rooted and unafraid of the wind shaking it, calm and secure, with its own reasons.

Speaking of pears, one thinks of Korean pears: large, round, glossy, juicy, and moderately sweet and tart, luxurious and precious gifts. As arranged by the conference, we visited a pear orchard. Although pears were placed in front of us, they were not for sale; only processed pear juice was sold, much more expensive than the original fruit. The pear juice they promoted had a caramel taste and was very sweet; one could not taste the original flavor of the pear. But this also raised the added value and shelf life of the agricultural product and could increase farmers' income, which is worth emulating. We also showed support by buying two boxes of processed pear juice.

South Korea's Experience with the Cultural and Creative Trend

After attending the conference and the arranged organic village visits, I came away with a deep impression and reflection on South Korean rural areas' cultural insistence in the organic industry. I was fortunate to meet a taxi driver who understood Japanese. Because my daughter knows Japanese, we were able to break through the barrier of Korean language and Korean script and successfully visit the urban districts. We inevitably visited the royal palace, Changdeokgung, a majestic and splendid Eastern building that seemed familiar. Its appearance and style are somewhat similar to those of Japan, China, and Taiwan, yet the colors of its carved beams and painted rafters are quite different, establishing a uniquely Korean color aesthetic.

Because I participated in the cultural and creative program of Feng Chia EMBA's Graduate School of Business Administration in 1998, I pay special attention to the cultural and creative industries. When I got to South Korea, I took the opportunity to observe South Korea's cultural and creative industries with particular care, and the results left me with quite a few reflections. In recent years, South Korean cultural authorities have devoted full effort to developing the film and television industry. With the traits of South Korea's strong national character, within just a few years, Korean-style TV dramas created miracles and won enormous benefits for the country. This achievement is recognized worldwide. 

In visiting the urban areas, I saw that the cultural and creative design products South Korea presents are basically rooted in their inherent cultural traits and colors. In daily necessities, tea, cosmetics, accessories, clothing, and so on, they all show their care and ingenuity. In creativity, color, shape, quality, packaging, and the overall display atmosphere, they all show strong ambition and robust vitality. What I admire even more is that domestic products flood and monopolize the entire South Korean market. Take Samsung: mobile phones, computers, electrical appliances, even toilets are all Samsung. From the market to the home, the whole nation loves domestic goods. Seeing this, no wonder our agricultural products find it hard to cross even one step into South Korea, let alone other things.

The South Korean people's sentiment of loving domestic goods has become their national attitude toward life. South Korean products strive for excellence, from large automobiles to small accessories. The entire industry shows a strong posture of cultural creativity and steady solidity. The patriotic will of the people, united from top to bottom, and a creative nation that once grew up amid the hardships of war, are worth learning from. 

Perceptions and Expectations

Participating in the 2011 IFOAM International Conference this time, because the South Korean representative at the 2008 Modena conference had offered to cover airfare, food, and lodging for members from third-world countries, there were many attendees from third-world countries. However, judging from the grandeur and service quality of this conference, as well as the overall impression of the visit content, I found a great gap from the formidable strength with which they had bid for hosting rights three years earlier. In terms of the venue scale, the arrangements for proceedings, food, lodging, transportation, and dining, and the appeal and interest of the organic village visit sites, I was somewhat disappointed.

Imagine if Taiwan were to host one day. I believe that with Taiwan's strengths in both software and hardware and its service attitude, the quality of proceedings, the arrangements for food, lodging, dining, and transportation, as well as the enthusiasm of our people and the high-quality human resources of the Association of Taiwan Organic Agriculture Promotion, we would surely do better than this year's host country. Therefore, I hope we will keep striving to bid for future hosting rights, so as to raise Taiwan's international reputation and the strength of its organic agriculture. This is my serious confidence and expectation.