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CEO Cho Tae-kwon of the Kwangjuyo Group emphasizes that, ‘Our traditions are something that will never disappear. They’re the things that have been accumulated all these years.’

There is a man who has turned traditional culinary arts into a business, has turned them into art complemented by a trinity of exquisite ceramics, traditional Korean cooking and well-matched traditional liquors.

This is Cho Tae-kwon, CEO at the Kwangjuyo Group, a company that has produced traditional ceramic ware for decades. The legacy of his ceramics dates back to 1963. Cho’s late father, Cho So-su, started the business in an effort to build on the legacy of the Kwangjukwanyo (광주관요, 廣州官窯), a historical kiln that existed during Joseon times.

Based in Gwangju-gun County, Gyeonggi-do Province, the Kwangjukwanyo produced blue and white porcelain, as well as Goryeo porcelain, usually for families in the royal court. As a high number of blue and white ceramics came in from the West in the late 19th century, the business started to ebb. In 1884, the kiln closed its doors for good.

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Cho Tae-kwon, CEO of the Kwangjuyo Group, keeps alive traditions of the Korean people, as he serves food in traditional ceramics that his father produced. Cho treats these dishes as if they were his own father’s and with a high amount of respect. ‘Each piece of pottery that my father made holds food of value, which, in other words, is one of our own valuable traditions.’

Seventy-nine years later, in 1963, Cho So-su rekindled the extinct flame and brought back to life traditional ceramic arts. Cho Junior has since kept the flame alive to this day since his father passed away in 1988.

Since taking over the business, Cho has had ceramic dinnerware produced by artisans from across the nation. He has stuck to the unwavering philosophy that, “The bowl defines the food that it holds. Your dignity rises as you dine using such exquisite bowls and plates, and so does the dignity of the nation.”

Kwangjuyo ceramics, characterized by their solidity and simplicity, have transformed the concept of traditional earthenware from being just decorative to becoming items of daily use. As the business got on track, he asked himself, “What if delicious and healthy food were served in these ceramics?” The idea came to reality in 2003 when he opened two restaurants, Gaon and Bicena, where Korean cuisine was served in traditional Kwangjuyo ceramic ware.

As he started to run the restaurants, Cho realized that something was missing in the cuisine. It lacked alcohol befitting the food, drinks that could add to the culinary delight. So in 2005, Cho released a high-end traditional liquor brand, Hwayo, distilled from 100 percent rice and brewed over a very low heat — 33 to 45 degrees Celsius — and under low pressure. The distilled liquor is then put into large traditional ceramic vats, ongi, to ripen over three to six months, adding more flavor. The brand varies in alcohol content from 17 percent up to 53 percent. Hwayo is currently exported to nine countries, including the U.S., Australia, France, Italy, China and Indonesia.

Cho was a successful businessman even before he got into the pottery, food and liquor businesses. He graduated from university in 1973 with a degree in industrial management from the University of Missouri. A year later, he was hired by Daewoo Corporation. Working there, he took charge of overseas businesses at the conglomerate, mostly across Africa, Europe and the Middle East. He then started his own business in the Middle East based on his experiences abroad, and he was extremely successful. As a sales representative and a businessman himself, he had a lot of chances to travel to many parts of the world, tasting a variety of foods in each country. Such experiences started to kindle his desire to get to know more about the cuisine and culinary traditions of his own homeland and, then, to disseminate it to the world.

“I learned a strict form of Eastern culture from my father and learned about Western culture during my school years while I was in the U.S. and then as a globalized businessman. Encountering both cultures naturally ignited my keen interest in my own culture. I think this is my destiny,” he said.

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CEO Cho Tae-kwon of the Kwangjuyo Group says that, ‘Just as people have clothes that suit them the most, each food has its own plate and bowl that suits it the most. When a food is served in the most suitable bowl and plate, we can enjoy it to the fullest and can make it part of our best traditions.’

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Hwayo, the Kwangjuyo Group’s liquor brand, looks inviting as it’s served in a porcelain cup.

As we sat down with Cho at his restaurant, Gaon, in Gangnam-gu District, Seoul, on Feb. 5, his voice expressed his strong passion for the ceramics, food and liquor that his firm produces.

– Please walk us through the history of the Kwangjuyo Group and how it built upon the legacy of the Joseon-era Kwangjukwanyo ceramics center.

When I was in middle school, my father started the business. He lamented over the fact that our own nation’s ceramics, which were highly valued in Japan, were neglected here in Korea. That’s why he started the business, founding it in Icheon, Gyeonggi-do Province, in 1963, with the goal of reviving their value somehow.

My father regarded the simple act of sipping tea from a cup or putting flowers in a vase as an act that cultivated our moral sense. He thought that putting the most natural things into the most flamboyant things and creating harmony between these completely different things was an act that made something out of nothing. There was no market for ceramics back then. My father had to export some of his traditional ceramics out of Korea to the Japanese market.

The Japanese tradition of tea drinking has a distinctive spirit and a standard of beauty that can be embedded in a single tea cup. However, our ceramics had no such thing back then. My father devoted his life to making earthenware that embraced our national spirit and our own standards and values. He educated himself on how to make traditional ceramics. He got to enjoy the “landscapes” created naturally by a natural run of glaze down the earthenware. That’s why each piece of pottery varies in style.

My father called in skilled potters, such as Hye Gang, Ji Soon-tack and Ahn Dong-hom, from across the nation, bringing them to Icheon, Gyeonggi-do Province. He then brought some works of art created by artisans in Japan. Then came a boom. Kwangjuyo ceramics won the hearts of many Japanese consumers. Kwangjuyo ceramics still meet with much recognition in that country to this day. I use some of the time-honored wares at my two restaurants, as I want to serve foods that are worthy of these ceramics. When my father passed away in 1988, nobody in my family wanted to and so I took over the family business. I decided to run the business simply in the hopes of being a good son toward my mother.

– You’ve had a lot of experiences, like in Japan, the U.S. and at Daewoo Corporation. You’re often called a cosmopolitan person.

When I studied in the U.S., my family wasn’t that well-off. I had to fend for myself, working part-time. I worked as a busboy at a restaurant, running errands and helping waiters and waitresses serve customers. I figured out exactly where the ketchup, butter or other stuff was and the overall management system as a whole. As a result, I was soon considered to be the best busboy there.

One day, I was carrying a stack of plates weighing more than 30 kilograms in one hand as I opened the door to the kitchen with the other hand. I slipped on the wet floor and let all the plates shatter to pieces. I blacked out for a moment. Some of the union members encouraged me to file a charge against the restaurant owner, as they had the ulterior motive of taking a share of my compensation. However, I didn’t file one, as I felt okay. Impressed by my honesty, the owner hired me as a waiter. Working as a waiter, I completely mastered how the business was run and managed. I watched the chefs and learned how they made sauces, soups and how to cook a steak. It was an invaluable experience for me. The experience of living such a “low” life in the U.S. gave me a great eye for dignity and upright character in the way people speak and behave.

When I worked at Daewoo, I took charge of very different tasks. I first supervised the production of shirts in Busan that were to be exported to the European market, then automobile exports and the defense business, all new to me. I learned a lot. It felt like things were going well in my life as the skein of thread was unraveled. When I became the first executive at a branch based in Athens, I broadened my global horizons and met people from all around the world, including Japan, Turkey and other European countries. In retrospect, all these experiences in my younger days have been a real help in what I’m doing now.

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The CEO of the Kwangjuyo Group, Cho Tae-kwon, stresses the importance of learning about different cultures and traditions.

– What was it, whether an event or a person, that has influenced you the most in your life?

It was in 1981 when I was working as an executive at the Athens branch. My wife was almost due at that time. My sister-in-law was flying in to Athens that day to take care of my wife. The next morning, my wife woke me with her face in tears. She was crying that her sister hadn’t woken up and wasn’t breathing. The sister’s death ushered in a new chapter in my life.

I found myself with nothing at all, having not saved enough money. I felt so sorry for my wife, buried in grief over the loss of her sibling. I was like, “What on earth could I get by continuing on in this job?” So in 1982, my life took on a different path. I started a new business in the Middle East jointly with an agent that I had met there. The business was a huge success. I was able to amass a whopping amount of wealth. Thanks to the wealth I accumulated, I’ve been able to invest a lot in my family businesses to this day.

– The ceramics business was all new to you, wasn’t it? Weren’t you afraid getting involved in this?

Yes. It was a whole different area into which I’d never set foot, but I’d done much more difficult businesses worldwide before that. I was like, “This should be a piece of cake.”

Only after I took over the business did my worries kick in. My biggest concern wasn’t to make the best ceramics here at home, but to make distinguished ceramics that would stand out on the global stage. I visited a series of museums along with a group of artisans, read many related books and studied a lot about ancient pottery.

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CEO Cho Tae-kwon of the Kwangjuyo Group says that believing that ‘I can do it’ leads to success.

– What do traditional ceramics and food mean to you?

If food is your body, we can say that the bowl that contains the food is its clothes. When you put on heavy makeup, you’d better be dressed less flamboyantly, so as to not look too showy. Likewise, when food is a bit colorful and fancy, the plate should be simple. Everything about a dish should stimulate our aesthetic sense. For that reason, serving plates and food are inextricably linked together. When both the food and the plate or bowl are made from nature and decorated together in harmony, it will make the togetherness perfect.

– Running your businesses, have you faced any difficulties over the past 20 years?

Once, when people played me for a fool. When I told them that I would enter the ceramics business, they thought I was crazy. As I regarded them as being fools themselves, I just smiled and said nothing. I pushed ahead with my plans, thinking only that I could pull it off one day. When I saw people from around the world, as well as people here at home, react to my ceramics and to my food, I was sure that I would make it. I’ve always believed in myself and such confidence has kept me going to this day.

I’ve also been able to stick to it because I had the money. Before jumping into this business, I had a huge accumulation of savings, and the money helped me through the challenges I faced in starting this business. When asked if it was bad to spend that much money on this, I always believed that culture was something that could be amassed. Money can go away, but our culture can never disappear. Instead, it just accumulates slowly.

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A glass of Hwayo X-Premium boasts a deep and aromatic flavor, similar to a glass of single malt whiskey.

– What is it that caused you to get into the liquor business?

I realized that countries famous for their own ceramics were generally well-known for their cuisine and liquor, too. I found that there are a variety of restaurants that represent the national spirit of these countries. In contrast, Korea didn’t have anything like that, neither food, liquor, nor restaurants. I believe that traditions, especially foods of value and dignity, represent a nation’s domestic economy. I thought that these things have the power to control the economy. In tradition, lies the spirit of a nation and its people. We can imitate the material of Western countries, but we cannot emulate their spirit. Likewise, they will not be able to emulate our Eastern spirit, which is our strength. I saw such power in our ceramics, food and liquors.

– Please share with us some of your philosophies about tradition.

When you don’t respect your traditions, you won’t be able to create anything. We can now enjoy the traditions that our ancestors accumulated over all those years. If you don’t understand the spirit embedded in these traditions, you cannot create something new. My belief is that an act of creation is only made possible as traditions change. Only when we respect our traditions and create something valuable that embraces such traditions can we reach out to the people of the world. I still have a long way to go. This is just the beginning.

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Cho’s late mother would make herb tea for him when he was young. At his restaurants, Cho now serves a jelly version of his mother’s herb tea.

– What do you think embodies the true globalization of our traditions?

When I saw ceramics, I saw food. When I saw food, I saw alcohol. When I saw alcohol, I saw a restaurant. When I saw a restaurant, I saw our “national dignity.” I believe that if I make ceramics as best as possible, people will think of them as a national asset. Then, people from other parts of the world will naturally think that way, too.

We should make our food the best in the world and serve it on a piece of exquisite pottery. The most important thing is that Koreans themselves need to recognize the beauty of the harmony first, before they wish for the world to turn its eyes toward us. Only after we first enjoy our own beauty will the people outside our nation become interested in it, I am sure. If the world is to enjoy our traditions, we need good liquor and a place where they can enjoy them all at once. That’s why I’ve done all these things together. When we succeed in combining these three things — ceramics, food and liquor — balanced together perfectly at a restaurant, I believe our traditions will reach a point where the world will finally recognize them. More importantly, however, as I said, we Koreans ourselves should recognize these first.

– Are there any other goals you’ve set for yourself?

Only to make nice food that can win praise from around the world. That’s my goal. My ultimate aim is to improve the image of our traditions. Such dignity can be found in the way we perceive a dish and the way we enjoy its flavor. Only when we have that luxurious mindset of eating can the dignity of our traditions truly step to the fore.

When people look at our traditional Hanok homes, for example, they feel like, “Ah, this is traditional Korean architecture.” Our food, too, should give that kind of feeling: “Ah, this is a Korean flavor.” This isn’t just a dish or a drink that fills our stomachs or gets us drunk. Instead, it should be a food and a liquor where we enjoy every bite and every sip.

By Sohn JiAe
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Jeon Han
jiae5853@korea.kr

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Gaon, a traditional Korean restaurant run by Cho Tae-kwon, CEO of the Kwangjuyo Group, serves dishes of abalone in Kwangjuyo ceramic bowls. The porcelain increases the aesthetics of the dish even before the diner bites into it.

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One of Gaon’s specialties is grilled beef with seasoned deodeok root and salt. Cho Tae-kwon says that he looked for the best-quality salt, one of the main ingredients in Korean cuisine, before he even opened Gaon.

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Gaon offers doyomuk, a sort of soybean pudding, and lotus root tea as a dessert. The light taste of the dessert soothes the taste buds after a diner that was stimulated with a series of heavily seasoned dishes.

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The line of distilled Hwayo liquors comes in different alcoholic contents, from 17 up to 53 percent.