"The Origin of Kimchi is Korea"…Japanese Housewife Refutes China's Unreasonable Claim

Digital poster created by the cyber diplomacy delegation VANK to promote Kimchi worldwide
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] Recently, amid controversies sparked by China’s baseless false information and its aggressive Northeast Project campaign, a Japanese housewife has drawn attention by submitting an article to a local newspaper stating that "the birthplace of Kimchi is Korea."

On the 2nd, Kyoko Sugino (74), a Japanese housewife, published an article titled "Kimchi is Korea’s Original Home" in the Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s daily newspaper with the largest circulation.

She praised kimchi, saying she fell in love with its charm after visiting Seoul due to the Korean Wave. She recalled, "I traveled to Seoul several times afterward, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that the purpose was to taste kimchi."

She continued, "Recently, there seems to be a movement in China claiming that 'kimchi is a traditional Chinese dish,'" and expressed empathy by saying, "I think I understand the feelings of Koreans who created the current kimchi through repeated research and ingenuity and are protesting against this."

Meanwhile, China is making unfounded claims that not only kimchi but also gat (traditional Korean hats), samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup), Arirang, and even Hangul were influenced by China. There is no proper evidence to support these claims.

When searching for samgyetang in Chinese on Baidu, China’s largest portal, the top results describe samgyetang as "an ancient Guangdong-style home soup dish from China" and "transmitted from China to Korea, becoming Korea’s representative royal cuisine."

However, the Guangdong soup dish claimed as the prototype of samgyetang in Baidu Encyclopedia is completely different from samgyetang. Guangdong soup is a medicinal soup cooked for a long time with chicken, pork, beef, vegetables, and medicinal herbs, typically eaten in winter rather than summer. Also, samgyetang, which is made by boiling chicken stuffed with ginseng, glutinous rice, and jujube in a earthenware pot, differs in taste, appearance, preparation method, and the season it is consumed.

Photo by Rakai Korea website

Recently, there was also a case that pointed out China’s baseless claims through a "reverse Northeast Project."

On April 1st, in celebration of April Fools’ Day, domestic fashion brand Lakai Korea posted a composite genre painting on its official Instagram showing ancestors gathering on a bench in front of their house, making and eating hot pot, dim sum, and mala soup themselves. They explained, "Today, we especially want to introduce our unique traditional foods depicted in the genre painting," and added, "Our ancestors have enjoyed hot pot, dim sum, and mala soup since ancient times."

Lakai Korea further stated, "April Fools’ Day is the only day when all lies are tolerated. We hope you can feel how absurd China’s historical distortion and the Northeast Project are, which never stop as if every day of the year is April Fools’ Day."

Chinese netizens who saw the painting flooded it with malicious comments such as "Korea has always been a part of China," "Do you get sick if you don’t distort history even for a day?" and "Kimchi and hanbok were all copied from China."

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