South Korea loves pork and booze. It wants to be the next halal powerhouse | Food

Seoul, South Korea – At the Malaysia International Halal Showcase last September, an unlikely sight caught the attention of many attendees.

Nestled among the booths from Muslim-majority countries such as Indonesia and Kuwait, a kiosk representing pork-loving, hard-drinking South Korea beckoned visitors to check out halal products ranging from seaweed laver to sanitary pads.

“The halal food market is a blue ocean with great potential for growth,” Lee Yong Jik, the head of the food export division at South Korea’s Ministry of…