Seocho-gu in Seoul held a completion ceremony Monday at the district office for 29 graduates of the 2026 Seocho-gu Food Service Management Academy's 8th cohort, district mayor Jeon Seong-su announced.
The Food Service Management Academy is an education program designed to strengthen the management capabilities of restaurant owners and inject vitality into the local food service industry. Since its first cohort in 2018, the program has produced more than 200 graduates through its seventh cohort last year. Since last year, the district has partnered with Baemin Academy, operated by Woowa Brothers Corp., signing an MOU to introduce a curriculum aligned with the latest trends in food service management — a move that drew a strong response from participants.
The 8th cohort ran for five weeks from June 29 to Monday under the theme "AI Marketing to Make Your Store the One Customers Choose," with three hours of instruction each week. The curriculum focused on hands-on practice: participants learned to use widely adopted AI-based services and the latest AI tools, then created their own marketing content for store promotion across channels including images, websites and blogs. The district said it expects participants to build their AI-powered promotional skills and strengthen their stores' marketing competitiveness as a result.
The program also featured a special lecture by Choe Jae-bung, a professor at Sungkyunkwan University, on how the food service industry is changing in the AI era and strategies for future survival. A mentoring program, in which graduates from last year's academy served as mentors, further enhanced the curriculum's practical value by sharing real-world application cases and know-how.
The completion ceremony, attended by academy participants and Baemin Academy representatives, proceeded in three parts: certificate presentations, awards for two outstanding participants, and remarks from graduates sharing their impressions. One restaurant owner who took part said, "I had only heard about AI until now, but after trying it myself I realized it was easier and more practical than I expected." She added, "I think applying what I learned will be a big help in promoting my store and boosting sales."
The district plans to launch the 9th cohort of the Food Service Management Academy in October, reflecting demand from the field.
"Through this Food Service Management Academy, I hope restaurant owners will be able to actively respond to the rapidly changing management environment of the AI era amid difficult economic conditions and take their competitiveness to the next level," district mayor Jeon said. "We will continue to push forward with practical, capacity-building education that is genuinely useful to food service business owners on the ground."
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