Chinese YouTuber Makes Kimchi and Calls It 'Traditional Chinese Dish?' Northeast Project Controversy Sparks Public Outrage...

Chinese YouTuber Labels Kimchi-Making Video as 'Traditional Chinese Cuisine'
Hanbok, Kimchi, and Other 'Cultural Northeast Project' Controversy Continues
Experts Say "We Must Confidently Defend Our Culture"

A Chinese YouTuber uploaded a video of making kimchi with napa cabbage, using the hashtag "Chinese traditional cuisine," sparking controversy. Photo by 'Lizzy' YouTube channel video capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-eun] Recently, a Chinese YouTuber posted a video making kimchi and kimchi stew, using the hashtag 'traditional Chinese cuisine,' sparking controversy. This gave the impression that Korea's unique dish, kimchi, is a traditional Chinese dish. Previously, some Chinese media outlets have introduced kimchi and hanbok as 'Chinese culture,' raising concerns again about China's 'cultural Northeast Project.'

On the 9th, Chinese YouTuber 'Lizhi,' who has over 14 million subscribers, uploaded a video titled 'Life Series Final Episode: The Life of Napa Cabbage' on her channel.

The 19-minute and 33-second video shows Lizhi harvesting and preparing napa cabbage herself, mixing salted cabbage with red seasoning made from chili powder to make napa cabbage kimchi, and taking kimchi stored in a jar to cook a soup-like dish resembling kimchi stew by adding sliced pork.

The problem is that Lizhi tagged the video description with hashtags like 'traditional Chinese cuisine' (#ChineseCuisine) and 'Chinese food' (#ChineseFood), presenting all the foods in the video as traditional Chinese dishes. As of 1 p.m. on the 11th, two days after the video was released, it had 2.93 million views and over 53,000 comments.

In response, Korean netizens expressed outrage, questioning, "Why on earth is kimchi a traditional Chinese food?" The comment section of the video is filled with remarks in Korean, English, and Chinese such as "Kimchi is a proud traditional Korean dish," "There is a limit to cultural theft," and "Do not play the video, report it immediately."

Comments in Korean and English stating "Kimchi is Korean food" are being posted on a YouTube video tagged with the hashtag "Chinese traditional food" about kimchi. Photo by LeezyChi, screenshot of the comment section on the YouTube channel video.

Mr. Kim, who watched the video, said, "Seeing kimchi confidently introduced as Chinese food is just absurd," adding, "Everyone in Korea knows kimchi is not Chinese food, but when a YouTuber with so many subscribers posts such a video, I worry it might cause misunderstandings among people from other countries." He continued, "Claims that kimchi is their food have been ongoing for a long time, and unless proper solutions or preventive measures are put in place, this will likely continue to be an issue."

This is not the first time China has caused controversy by appropriating Korean culture. Last November, China's 'Global Times' reported, "Since China's pickled vegetable paocai (泡菜) was standardized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), Korean kimchi also falls under paocai, so China now holds the global standard for the kimchi industry."

However, this is a distorted report. The Global Times falsely claimed that kimchi was included in the paocai international standard. The ISO clarified that "kimchi is not covered by the paocai standard," and according to Cho Jeong-eun, head of strategic planning at the World Kimchi Research Institute, kimchi has already received international standard recognition from the Codex Alimentarius Commission, a UN-affiliated organization.

Additionally, China's largest portal site Baidu described "kimchi as a Chinese cultural heritage with origins in China," and in Baidu Encyclopedia, poet Yun Dong-ju's nationality is listed as Chinese and ethnicity as Joseonjok (朝鮮族), intensifying the controversy over China's 'cultural Northeast Project.'

Experts also point out China's 'cultural Northeast Project' and emphasize the need to protect Korean culture. Professor Seo Kyung-deok of the Department of Liberal Arts at Sungshin Women's University stated, "(China) should first learn to respect other countries' cultures before suffering international embarrassment."

He added, "Recently, China has been forcibly claiming Korea's unique culture such as hanbok, pansori, and kimchi as their own, but we must confidently confront these historical distortions and protect our culture," emphasizing, "Instead of only expressing anger over China's historical distortions, it is more important to accurately inform what is wrong so that corrections can be properly made."

Also, chef Jung Sang-won, who authored a book on global food culture, commented on the so-called 'kimchi controversy' on YTN's 'Wise Radio Life' on the 4th of last month, saying, "The controversy arises because kimchi itself is an excellent global heritage, and if it had no value, there would be no problem," adding, "Still, as a chef and a Korean, this situation is very absurd."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.