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SEOUL – China’s efforts to obtain international certification for Pao Cai, a pickled vegetable dish from Sichuan, are turning into a social media clash between Chinese and South Korean netizens over the origin of Kimchi, a staple Korean cuisine. made of cabbage.
Beijing recently won an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certification for Pao Cai, an achievement that the state-run Global Times reported as “an international standard for the China-led kimchi industry.”
South Korean media were quick to dispute such a claim, accusing the larger neighbor of trying to make Kimchi a kind of Pao Cai made in China.
The episode sparked anger on South Korean social media. “It’s total nonsense, what a thief stealing our culture!” a South Korean netizen wrote on Naver.com, a very popular web portal.
“I read a story in the media that China is now saying that kimchi is theirs and that they are making it an international standard. It is absurd. I am concerned that they may steal hanbok and other cultural content, not just kimchi,” Kim said. Sheol. ha, a 28-year-old in Seoul.
Some South Korean media outlets even described the episode as “China’s attempt to dominate the world,” while some comments on social media raised concerns that Beijing was exercising “economic coercion.”
On Weibo, similar to Twitter in China, Chinese netizens claimed that kimchi was their country’s traditional dish, as most of the kimchi consumed in South Korea is made in China.
“Well if you don’t meet the standard then you’re not kimchi,” wrote one on Weibo. “Even the pronunciation of kimchi originated from Chinese, what else can I say?” Wrote another.
The South Korean Ministry of Agriculture issued a statement on Sunday saying primarily that the ISO-approved standard does not apply to Kimchi.
“It is inappropriate to report (on Pao Cai winning the ISO) without differentiating Kimchi from Pao Cai from Sichuan from China,” the statement said. – Reuters
