Why does China touch still kimchi?
Chinese cultural provocations are crossing the line every year. This time it is kimchi. The food’Kimchi’ has already been certified as an international standard as a Korean recipe on the international stage 20 years ago. This is a matter settled as the 2001 International Food Standards Committee recognized Korean kimchi as an international standard. However, the reason why China is carrying out excessive provocation is because there are high-level targets.
Let’s look at who the provocation is. China’s state-run newsletter has opened fire. In November of last year, the Hwangu Times reported in an article titled’The shame of the country where kimchi’s originated. In fact, this article was written to inform you that Pao Chai, a pickled vegetable dish from Sichuan, China, has been certified as a standard by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). But I fell down with kimchi here. In fact, the ISO standard certification document also states that Pao Chai certification is’This document does not apply to kimchi’.
At a glance, Pao Chai is a pickled dish that is closer to pickles than kimchi. China’s global network capture
Starting with this, the Chinese shaking of kimchi continued. China’s UN Ambassador Jang Jun (張軍) posted a picture of Kimchi making on Twitter. Then, after uploading a video of 10 million Chinese YouTuber Li Ziqi (李子柒) making kimchi, he added the hashtag’Chinese Cuisine’ in the description. Zhou Sha, an announcer from a broadcasting station in Liaoning, China, deprecated kimchi as “a non-formal food” and insisted that kimchi is a food belonging to the Chinese ethnic group, one of the 55 ethnic groups in China.
Chinese YouTuber Lizchi mixes cabbage kimchi. YouTube capture
The Chinese Communist Party also came out. The Central Political Law Committee of the Communist Party said, “(Korea) says that kimchi is also Korean, dried persimmon is Korean, and Dano is also Korean. In the end, it is because of the anxiety caused by distrust in self. Without confidence, all kinds of delusions arise.” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chun-ying said, “Pao Chai is a salted fermented food that is not limited to a few countries and regions. In China, it is called Pao Cha, and the Korean peninsula and the Korean-Chinese called it Kimchi.”
On the 9th, Chinese Ambassador to Korea Xing Hai-ming told the Hankook Ilbo about the Kimchi conflict, “Korea and China share thousands of years of long history and values. Many factors have evolved and incorporated into the genes of each country’s culture. For example, China Is made up of 56 ethnic groups, among which there are ethnic Koreans.
In their remarks, there is a nuance that the Korean people are one of the nations that make up China. There is a glimpse of the view that Korean culture is also part of Chinese culture.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chun-ying said, “We support the promotion of beneficial and friendly exchanges over the’Pao Chai’ issue on a gastronomic level. Conversely, we must not introduce prejudice in this matter, promote confrontation, and do not hurt our emotions.” Reuters = Yonhap News
There is something in common among the Chinese who are provoking kimchi. One is that they are the people of the Chinese Communist Party’s breath. The Huangu Times is the sister magazine of the People’s Daily, an agency of the Chinese Communist Party. Ritsuchi is almost the only Chinese cultural YouTube channel allowed by China that blocked YouTube. It’s hard work without communist acquiescence. China’s UN ambassador, the Communist Party’s Central Political Commission, and the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are, without a doubt, officials from the CCP. They circumcisely insist that kimchi is part of Chinese culture. Another thing in common is that the Chinese food Pao Chai has caused intensive kimchi controversy since the time it received international standard certification.
However, unlike other cultural controversies such as Northeastern Engineering and Hanbok, experts point out that there is also an economic aspect behind the Kimchi controversy.
Korea’s exports of kimchi amounted to US$ 144.51 million last year. Although there was a huge setback in trade due to Corona 19, it increased by 38% compared to the previous year. This is thanks to the effect of promoting the immunity enhancing function of Kimchi and the Korean Wave boom, which continues with BTS. Most of the food exports suffered, but kimchi succeeded in driving backwards.
Despite Corona 19, kimchi exports have succeeded in growth. The photo shows the Doosan’Jonggajip Kimchi’ factory in 1998.
This provocation is interpreted with the intention that China will take the lead in the kimchi market once kimchi gains international food status. “The kimchi industry is growing greatly every year, so global competition with China is inevitable,” said Yoon Sang-young, head of the Food Export Department of the Korea Agriculture and Fisheries Food Distribution Corporation. “Competitiveness is differentiated from Chinese kimchi in terms of quality by developing new seeds and continuing functional research. We are securing them.”
Another Chinese noim is the globalization of Pao Chai. As can be seen from the widespread report on the Pao Chai international standard certification this time, China is making ceaseless efforts to promote Sichuan Pao Chai to the world. Pao Chai is also known as’Dongpo Pickle’ in China. It is named after the news of Dongpa, the Great Moon Lake of the Song Dynasty in China, which is well known in Korea as Sodongpa. (It’s similar to the origin of Dongpayuk.) That’s why it’s a food that contains the pride of China. However, in terms of recognition on the international stage, it is not comparable to kimchi.
China has been holding the China Pickle Food Expo in Sichuan for more than 10 years to promote Pao Chai. Sichuan is home to various Pao Chai-related institutions that it is safe to call the entire Pao Chai Complex. The National Pao Chai Quality Inspection Center, Pao Chai Institute of Technology, and Pao Chai Museum were all built in Sichuan. World-class food companies and buyers are invited to the fair, but the effect is still not noticeable. Jeong-eun Jung, head of the Strategic Planning Division at the World Kimchi Research Institute, said, “China has been working hard to industrialize Pao Chai. “The first step in industrialization is to set standards, which was successful at the end of last year, and we are going nationally to inform them.”
In other words, China is promoting Pao Chai noise marketing in favor of kimchi’s global popularity. Director Jung-eun Jung said, “China’s impatience to promote Pao Chai may have been expressed through excessive marketing.”
Baklava, a traditional Turkish food. Photo = Sakaman
In fact, there is a case in which exports of Baklava in Turkey increased significantly due to the controversy over aid to Baklava between Turkey and Greece in the 2000s. Baklava is a dessert made of several layers of pastry coated with nuts, etc. It is a common dish in Mediterranean and Arab countries. Turkish baklava manufacturers protested when a Greek company tried to industrialize baklava. Turkish media also criticized President Obama’s eating baklava on Greece’s Independence Day in 2012. The Greek-Turkish debate on aid to Baklava intensified, dating back to Assyria, the Mesopotamian civilization of BC. Thanks to controversy, Turkey’s baklava exports have grown more than 50 times from $110,000 in 2001 to $5.8 million in 2016.
Korea’s kimchi exports were $152.4 million last year, more than 20 times that of Baklava. According to a report by Market Report World, a US market analysis agency, the global kimchi market is expected to grow to $4.28 billion by 2025.
Reporter Jeongbong Lee mole@joongang.co.kr