"Samgyetang is Chinese cuisine?" Chinese Baidu, after 'Kimchi Gongbang' controversy, now even Samgyetang questioned

When searching for Samgyetang on Baidu, China's largest portal site, the search results show it as a "Chinese Guangdong-style soup dish," causing controversy.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Soyoung] Following the 'Kimchi dispute' sparked by China's claim that "kimchi originated in China," controversy has arisen again as China now asserts that Samgyetang is a "Chinese Guangdong-style soup dish."

When searching for 'Samgyetang' on Baidu, China's largest portal site, the description reads, "One of the ancient Chinese Guangdong-style soup dishes made with Korean ginseng, chicken, and glutinous rice, which became one of the most representative Korean royal court dishes after being introduced to Korea."

China's claim that 'Samgyetang' is Chinese can be attributed to the many soup dishes similar to Samgyetang found in the Guangdong region. 'Lao Huojingtang,' a representative soup dish of Guangdong Province, is made by boiling chicken, pork, beef, and vegetables together. However, Lao Huojingtang is a medicinal soup dish that simmers chicken, pork, beef, and vegetables with medicinal herbs for a long time.

On the other hand, Samgyetang is a modern Korean dish where ginseng, glutinous rice, and jujube are stuffed inside a chicken and boiled in a earthenware pot, making these two dishes entirely different in name and preparation method.

When searching for 'Samgyetang' on Baidu, China's largest portal site, the description reads "One of the ancient Chinese Guangdong-style soup dishes." Photo by Baidu capture

According to the Rural Development Administration, during the Japanese colonial period, 'Samgyetang' was created by adding powdered ginseng to boiled chicken and chicken soup, and the current form of Samgyetang was established after the 1960s, gaining widespread popularity since the 1970s.

Additionally, Korea has assigned an international product classification code (HS code number 1602.32.1010) to Samgyetang, whereas China currently has no specific domestic standard. The HS code is an international product classification system that assigns unique numbers to all products and serves as a criterion for determining the origin in Free Trade Agreements (FTA).

This is the second time Baidu has made such a statement. In the past, Baidu claimed "the origin of kimchi is China," which led to a flood of correction requests and protests from Korean netizens, prompting Baidu to lock all posts related to kimchi to prevent edits. At that time, Professor Seo Kyungduk of Sungshin Women's University protested after discovering the incorrect description on Baidu stating 'Korean kimchi originated in China.'

Meanwhile, many Korean netizens are demanding a strong stance against China's cultural distortion. The recent controversy over 'historical distortion' that led to the mid-broadcast cancellation of the SBS drama 'Joseon Exorcist' was also a result of voices protesting China's 'Northeast Project.'

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