Writing 'Kimchi' but using the Chinese term 'Paochai'... Seokyeongdeok's sharp criticism of Chinese idol member

Tours Chinese Member Labels Kimchi as 'Pao Cai' on Social Media
Professor Seo Kyung-deok: "Truly Wrong... Should Consider Korean Sentiment"

Group TO1 member Han Jin. YouTube channel 'KBS Kpop'

Last year, the popular group 'Tours,' recognized as the best rookie with their debut song "First Meeting Didn't Go as Planned" topping the annual chart on Melon, the largest music platform in Korea, is currently embroiled in controversy as their Chinese member Han Jin referred to kimchi as 'pao cai' (泡菜) on a fan communication app.

On the 1st, while interacting with fans on the global community platform 'Weverse,' Han Jin wrote in Korean, "I ate kimchi stew," and when translating it into Chinese, he labeled kimchi as 'pao cai.' After receiving criticism from fans, Han Jin deleted the post.

Regarding this, Professor Seo Kyung-deok of Sungshin Women's University posted on his social media on the 5th, stating, "As you well know, Korean kimchi and Chinese 'pao cai' are distinctly different foods," and added, "China is making unfounded claims that pao cai is the original kimchi and their cultural heritage. In this context, it was truly wrong for the Chinese member Han Jin to label kimchi as pao cai." He continued, "As a star with significant external influence, he should have been more cautious and considerate of the basic sentiments of Koreans." He also urged, "Although Han Jin's comment has now been deleted, I hope such incidents never happen again."

Group Tours member Han Jin wrote kimchi as pao cai. Seo Kyung-duk, Professor at Sungshin Women's University, SNS

Finally, Professor Seo emphasized, "In the past, some entertainers active in both Korea and China have also caused controversy by labeling kimchi as 'pao cai' in videos and on social media," and stressed, "We must be more careful to prevent such incidents that give China an excuse from happening again."

Pao cai is a general term in China for pickled vegetable side dishes and is different from kimchi. In 2021, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism partially revised the 'Guidelines for Foreign Language Translation and Notation of Public Terms,' specifying the correct Chinese notation for kimchi as 'xin qi' (辛奇).

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