Deborah Olabelure wins 2025 KCCN Hansik contest

Deborah Olabelure has emerged the overall winner of 2025 Hansik contest organized by the Korean Cultural Centre in Nigeria (KCCN) and sponsored by the Korean Food Promotion Institute (KFPI).

Deborah who won other 11 participants to cart away the price money of N1,000,000 and a trip to Korea said she was excited given the fact that her hard work had paid off at last.

Deborah who participated at the last year contest said she decided to participate this year due to her passion for Korean culture.

She said that what worked for her was that she made use of Korean ingredient more compared to last year.

“I was a kind of laid back a bit. I went all in this year and I think it actually paid back. The victory will greatly enhance my interest on Korean culture more. Before now I have been a Korean fan. I actually have a cooking page on Korean cuisine. I will work more on that and push out more cooking content and see how it grows the community. I am very excited because I am going to Korea as the winner of this 2024 Hansik contest” she said.

Also speaking, the first runner-up, Igboyilola Oluwu said she was inspired by her attachment with Korean culture and decided to participate to have experience on how it would be.

“Honestly, I am super excited by this honour of taking the second position with the price tag of N700, 000. I will be preparing Korean food for my family believing they would love it given its specialty and uniqueness”.

I am full of appreciations to Korean Cultural Centre for bringing Korean culture to Nigeria through their impacting activities that have promoted their diverse cultures.

“KCCN practically brought Korea to Nigeria and made it possible for us to experience Korea in Nigeria without travelling to Korea. I feel very happy taking the second position and even making it to the finals” she said.

Patience Berepele, the second runner-up thanked Korean Korea Cultural Centre for giving her the opportunity to participate again having taken the first position in the last year contest.

Berepele said it was an opportunity that was so good that she has gotten something out of it.

“I will continue to promote Korean dishes. I am going to start a blog of Nigerian-Korean fusion to sink down the Korean culture in our system”.

Event Manager of Korea Cultural Centre in Nigeria, Xun Jin Lee who informed that KCCN held Hansik competition for the first time in 2024 and with 2025 contest being the second in the series said the Centre was working with Korean Food Promotion Institute to make the event a reality.

She said the event was about making it possible for Nigerians to know more about the Korean food and appreciate it.

One of the judges, Chef Godfrey Mario Odoh and Vice President of Professional Chefs of Nigeria in the North Central zone said there was a great improvement from last years’ contest hinting on the new ideas and innovation brought into the contest by the Korean Cultural Centre in Nigeria.

Chef Mario thanked Korean Cultural Centre for advancing in their competition system.

He said that their main focus on selecting the winners was the application and usage of the Jang which he described as a vital foundational recipe in Korea.

“There is no Korean dish you make without the Jang that will come out pleasant and the taste will complement the Jang as a recipe”.

Director of Korea Cultural Centre, Nigeria, Mr. Kim Chang Ki said the centre decided to hold the event earlier this year for him to witness it as his tenure closes soon.

“We decided to hold the event earlier this year for me to witness it as my tenure closes soon.

“Again, many Nigerians have begun to like and appreciate Korean food. You can see it by the number of people that came and the excitement the event has brought.

“The event has made many Nigerians to like and appreciate Korean foods, K-POP and many other Korean cultures and that is why we are promoting Korean Culture.

“We are going to be improving with every event as Korean government knew that many Nigerians like Korean culture. Both K-POP and Korean food competition will continue and will get better with time. Nigerians will continue to enjoy Korean culture. In this particular competition, we have 40 teams from the start but only 12 teams qualified for the final stage”.

Recall that 2025 Hansik contest took off with an online contest in March leading to 12 finalists making it at the end qualifying them to be at the final round.

The winner went home with N1,000,000 cash and will get an all-expense-paid trip to Korea to attend the 2025 Namdo International Culinary Expo this October.

The second and third-place winners got N700,000 and N400,000 respectively.

The event came with many uniqueness like a special food tasting side event, spotlighting beloved Korean dishes popularized by K-dramas and Korean pop culture. Guests got a taste of favorites like Tteokbokki, Japchae, Bibimbap, Ddakgangjeong (Korean fried chicken), and Ramyeon (Korean noodles) with many of them confessing the specialty of Korean cuisine.