"'Paochai' Not 'Sinchi'... Seoul City Revises Kimchi Labeling"

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 27th that, following the increase in Chinese tourists visiting areas such as Myeongdong due to China allowing group tours to Korea, it will begin revising the menu board notation of ‘kimchi’ at major tourist site restaurants primarily visited by Chinese tourists.

Previously, when the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism specified in July 2021 that the Chinese translation and notation of ‘kimchi’ should be changed from ‘pao cai’ (泡菜) to ‘xin qi’ (辛奇), Seoul City also registered the notation of ‘kimchi’ as ‘xin qi’ in its foreign language notation dictionary in September of the same year.

Kimchi is a unique Korean food distinguished from pao cai, which is fermented at room temperature after salting, by using seasonings mixed with red pepper powder, garlic, and salted seafood and fermenting at low temperatures. These should be used distinctly.However, due to a lack of awareness regarding foreign language notation rules, many tourist site restaurants mainly visited by Chinese tourists in areas such as Myeongdong still label kimchi as ‘pao cai,’ making revision necessary.

First, to correct the Chinese notation of kimchi in the food service industry, the Korea Foodservice Industry Association was sent an official notice on the 25th guiding the correct notation and recommending correction of notation errors. Additionally, on the 26th, a request was made to Google Korea to correct the translation of kimchi.

Finally, a citizen inspection team will be formed to investigate the actual state of Korean food menu notations and correct notation errors, supporting the correction of kimchi notation errors on menus centered around Myeongdong.

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