An International Diplomatic Row Over Mango Mousse

The world is waiting with baited breath to see the outcome of the inter-Korean Summit this Friday. Some are predicting an announcement that will end the 1950s Korean War, others are hoping for baby-steps towards peninsular reunification. Japan is angry about the dessert.

Dodko (Takeshima) Islands from the air

Japan is angry about the dessert, because on top of a mango mousse decorated with fresh spring flowers sits a plaque depicting a unified Korea. That’s fine with Japan. Its the two small islands to the right of the peninsula that are at the center of Japan’s long-running territorial dispute with South Korea. The two islands known as Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in Korea, which lie about halfway between the East Asian neighbors in the Sea of Japan, which Seoul refers to as the East Sea.

The islands themselves are rocky outcrops and barely habitable. East island has two residents, who are subsidized by Seoul, and telecommunications outlets to make sure these people can communicate with the mainland. The issue is less the possession of the islands themselves than the incredibly rich fishing grounds surrounding them. A wide variety of fish as well as seaweed, kelp, sea slugs, and clams are located around the Dokdo islands. Major fishery catches in the area are squid, Alaskan pollock, codfish, and octopus. So the inter-Korean Summit dessert commemorates South Korea’s claim to the islands and its marine riches. Oddly enough, this is an issue that both North and South Korea agree on.

Rösti

Since the Blue House (South Korea’s equivalent of the US White House) has released the menu for the inter-Korean Summit, Japan has been protesting the dessert. A Japanese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said yesterday that the dessert choice was, “It is extremely regrettable,” adding that Japan had lodged a protest. “We have asked that the dessert not be served.”

Luckily for the Koreas, nothing else on the menu is contentious. Interestingly, one of the choices announced is Rösti – a Swiss potato fritter, similar to formed hash browns or tortilla de patata. It is considered a Swiss national dish and is being served because Kim Jong Un is apparently quite a fan of it, having first encountered it during his school-days in Switzerland. Baked John Dory (a sort of flat sea fish, but not a flounder) will be served as a nod to South Korean President Moon’s younger days spent in the southern sea-coast city of Busan.

Naengmyeon, or Pyongyang-style cold noodles will also be served in a chilled meat broth. The dish is delicious, but the seasonal timing is a bit off. As a chilled soup, it is much better enjoyed in the heat of summer or as a pick-me-up after an outdoor exercise like hiking, than in the still chill air of early spring. The noodle dishes are being prepared by the head chef of North Korea’s Okryu Gwan restaurant, who is coming to the border village of Panmunjom to prepare them.

Washing the feasts down, the leaders will have the powerful munbaeju liquor brewed from wheat and millet but with the light scent of pears, and a more delicate rice wine called dugyeonjuwhich is scented and flavored with azalea petals.

I wonder what will be served for dessert?

(Words by Laura Kelley)

3 thoughts on “An International Diplomatic Row Over Mango Mousse”

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    • Hi Stephen:

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