연구대상자는 총 144명으로 남자 57명, 여자 87명, 동양 109명, 서양 35명으로 구성되었다. 대상자의 평균 나이는 24.42세, 키와 몸무게는 각각 168.12 cm, 59.00 kg이었다. 외국인들의 한국음식을 처음 접했을 때, ‘맵다’, ‘양념 맛이 강하다’, ‘짜다’ 로 느꼈으며,처음 접한 한국음식에 대한 어려움은 ‘보통(34.7%)’, ‘그렇지 않다(26.4%)’, ‘전혀 그렇지 않다(13.9%)’, ‘매우 그렇다(7.6%)’, ‘약간 그렇다(7.4%)’ 순으로 나타났다. 한국음식 적응에 어려움을 느낀이유는 ‘매워서(32.6%)’, ‘재료가 낯설어서(22.1%)’, ‘조리방법이 익숙지 않아서(20.9%), ‘냄새, 색깔이 이상해서 (15.1%)’, ‘달아서(9.3%)’의 순이었다. 한국음식에 대한 적응정도에서 동양인의 경우 49.5%가 ‘처음부터 잘 먹음’이라고 응답한 반면, 서양인의 경우 48.6%가 한국음식을 적응하기 위해 1~3개월의 적응기간이 더 소요 되었다. 한국음식 적응에 도움을 준 요인은 ‘스스로 노력했다’고 대답한 응답자가 57.3%로 가장 많았고, ‘친구의 도움으로’ 25.7%,‘기타’ 9.0%, ‘인터넷’ 6.3%, ‘TV, 신문, 잡지’ 1.4%순이 었다.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the Korea-resident foreigners`s adaptability and preference to Korean foods. The survey was carried out among 144 foreigners living in Seoul, Korea (male 57, female 87; from the East 109, from the West 35). Based on the first impression of Korean food, ‘spicy’, ‘strong taste of seasoning’, ‘salty’ were most common. About 90 percent of the foreigners adapted to Korean food in six months. It took more time to adapt to Korean food for Western people, compared to people from the East. Factors that influenced their adaption to Korean food were shown to be ‘efforts by myself’ and ‘from friends’. Foreigners posited positive attitude toward Korean food according to their answers like ‘nutritionally great food’ and ‘food with interesting ways of eating’. Westerners appeared to be more satisfied with Korean food. ``Too strong seasoning taste`` and ‘too sweet’ were pointed out for further improvements. Beef Bulgogi, (Korean) fruit, Beef Ribs, Pork Ribs, and Grilled Pork Belly in order were foreigners` favorite foods, but Soju, Korean Sausage, Sliced Rice Cake Soup, Radish Kimchi and Vegetable Side Dishes were not. Taken together, the adaptability and preference to Korean foods to foreigners were different according to the gender and cultural background. Target marketing strategy of Korean Foods should be considered for foreign customers. (Korean J Community Nutr 17(6) : 782~794, 2012)