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In recent years, South Korea has embarked on gastrodiplomacy, or state-sponsored attempts to make Korean food one of the world’s favorite cuisines.

But a 2016 research paper on gastrodiplomacy did find that eating a meal together improved social interactions between those who dine together, not to mention fewer hierarchical displays of dominance and submissiveness.

A hashtag “gastrodiplomacy” was soon trending along with “rendanggate”.

“Kimchi is something that makes people turn up their noses, but it is becoming more and more popular in the U.S. right now” — and not just at farmers markets but at regular grocery stores, too, said Johanna Mendelson Forman, a professor at American University who specializes in gastrodiplomacy. 

South Korea launched a $77 million gastrodiplomacy initiative in 2009, promoted by the wife of the president of the time.