CAIRO – In a plan to attract more Muslim tourists, a South Korea state-run tourism promotion agency is encouraging local restaurants to seek a “Muslim-friendly certificate” to be able to serve halal food.
Sources reported that Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) plans to launch the Muslim-friendly certificate system around August, which will be granted to restaurants based on how well halal food and other dishes are prepared and served, Korea Herald reported on Thursday, April 7.
Restaurants with the highest rating under the five-tier certificate system will be granted the certificate to provide halal food officially guaranteed by the Korea Muslim Federation.
Those without halal food on their menus could also get a lower-rated certificate if they do not offer pork.
The tourism agency is aiming to choose 200 restaurants nationwide for the Muslim-friendly certificate, the sources said.
KTO records show that 740,000 Muslim tourists visited the South last year, most of whom came from Malaysia and Indonesia — Turkish citizens accounted for nearly 20,000 visitors in 2015.
With the total expected to rise to 800,000 this year, South Korea has apparently recognized the need to keep up.
According to the Korea Muslim Federation (KMF), established in 1967, there are about 120,000 to 130,000 Muslims living in South Korea, both natives and foreigners.
The majority of South Korea’s population is made up of migrant workers from Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The number of native Korean Muslims is estimated at some 45,000.
The concept of halal, — meaning permissible in Arabic — has traditionally been applied to food.
Muslims should only eat meat from livestock slaughtered by a sharp knife from their necks, and the name of Allah, the Arabic word for God, must be mentioned.
Muslims do not eat pork and consider pigs and their meat filthy and unhealthy to eat. Alcohol is also totally forbidden for Muslims.
Now other goods and services can also be certified as halal, including cosmetics, clothing, pharmaceuticals and financial services.