Chinese Netizens Claim "Kimchi is Chinese" Ahead of the World Cup... Seogyeongdeok Says "It's Just Pitiful Now"

Chinese State Media Including Huanqiu Shibao Label Kimchi as 'Paochai'
"A Typical Tactic of the Kimchi Gongjeong... Misleading Overall Public Opinion"

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] Ahead of the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Chinese netizens have been claiming that 'Kimchi is Chinese,' which Professor Seo Kyung-deok of Sungshin Women's University criticized, saying, "When will they finally escape from being frogs in a well and acknowledge a global perspective? Now it just looks pathetic."

Earlier on the 9th, the Korea Football Association announced that during the Qatar World Cup, they would receive kimchi from the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation. The corporation plans to supply about 200 kg of kimchi locally in Qatar for the Korean team.

Chinese state media such as Huanqiu Shibao reported this news, stating, "Kimchi arrived in Qatar before the Korean players ahead of the World Cup." The media used the Chinese term 'Pao Cai' (泡菜, Chinese pickled vegetables) instead of the changed Chinese spelling of kimchi, 'Xin Chi' (辛奇), in their kimchi-related reports.

Regarding this, Professor Seo stated on Instagram on the 14th, "Many Chinese netizens are making absurd claims that 'kimchi is Chinese' as reported by numerous Chinese media including Huanqiu Shibao." He pointed out, "This is a typical tactic of the 'kimchi process' (Kimchi Gongjeong), using articles about kimchi to create comment-based public opinion among Chinese netizens and distort the overall public sentiment."

Professor Seo added, "In 2020, Huanqiu Shibao cited the China Market Supervision News, reporting that China led the establishment of six international food standards for the kimchi industry," and "introduced that with China's acquisition of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) approval, Korea, the origin country of kimchi, was humiliated, and Korean media were angry."

He continued, "However, the ISO documents actually specify 'Pao Cai,' not kimchi, and clearly state that these food standards do not apply to 'Kimchi (Kimchi).'" He said, "Not reporting this fact and only trying to manipulate domestic public opinion causes the world to treat it as 'domestic tabloid news' only."

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