"He Steps Up Again on the Kimchi Issue"… Seo Kyung-deok's 'Pao Cai Critique' Unsettles Chinese Media

Seokyeongdeok, Professor at Sungshin Women's University

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] Professor Seo Kyung-duk of Sungshin Women's University criticized actress Chu Ja-hyun for labeling kimchi as 'pao cai (泡菜·Chinese pickled vegetables)'. Meanwhile, Chinese state media stated, "Pao cai may appear to Chinese people merely as a side dish, but to Koreans, it is a globally significant invention."

On the 21st, Chinese state-run Global Times published an article titled "Korean celebrity labels kimchi as 'pao cai,' and that Korean professor expresses dissatisfaction again," reporting, "Professor Seo Kyung-duk, who frequently clashes over the kimchi issue, has appeared again. This time, he targeted a Korean celebrity who grew up in China."

The article then quoted remarks made by L? Chao, senior researcher at the North Korea and South Korea Research Center of the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, during an interview in December 2020.

At that time, Professor Seo sent a protest email to the Chinese portal Baidu, which stated "the origin of kimchi is China." In response, researcher L? said, "Korea lives among powerful nations and pays special attention to its traditions and customs," adding, "It has a unique national mindset that excessively heightens ethnic pride to a sensitive state."

He sarcastically added, "Pao cai may appear to Chinese people merely as a side dish, but to Koreans, it is a globally significant invention."

Choo Ja-hyun, who labeled kimchi as 'Paochai' (泡菜).
Photo by Seo Kyung-duk, Instagram capture

Earlier, on the 17th, Chu Ja-hyun posted a video on the Chinese version of Instagram, Xiaohongshu, labeling kimchi as 'pao cai.' In response, Professor Seo stated on the 21st, "In the current situation where absurd incidents like China's kimchi and hanbok disputes are occurring, especially for those with significant external influence, I believe they should be able to understand the basic national sentiments."

Meanwhile, 'pao cai' is a general term in China for pickled vegetable side dishes, which is a different food from kimchi. However, the Chinese government claims that the origin of kimchi is pao cai.

In this regard, last July, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism revised the 'Guidelines for Foreign Language Translation and Notation of Public Terms,' changing the Chinese translation and notation of kimchi to 'xin qi' (辛奇) and deciding to remove 'pao cai,' which China had used to refer to kimchi as their own food.

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