Chinese media, focused on Chinese kimchi▶ Click here for a larger view
Controversy is expected as the state-run Global Times highlights China’s largest producer of kimchi and claims that Chinese kimchi dominates the Korean restaurant industry, while Chinese media recently aroused a debate about the origin of kimchi.
On the 30th, the Global Times, an English-language sister magazine of China’s Huangu Shibo, which has strong nationalist tendencies, published an article titled ‘80% of kimchi imported from Korea comes from a village in China’.
The Global Times introduced that “about 90% of the kimchi imported by Korea is made in China,” and that “a small village in Shandong Province is leading 80% of the kimchi exports.”
This village is located in Renjiao County, Pingdu City in Shandong Province, China, and many growers in the region exported kimchi to Korea and emerged as the’best kimchi village in China’, the media reported.
At the same time, the village growers are paying close attention to the amount of cabbage cultivation in accordance with the climate conditions of Korea, and propaganda that not only cabbage cultivation but also kimchi processing factories are being built on a large scale.
A farmer in the village mentioned the’kimchi crisis’ following the surge in Chinese cabbage prices in October, and said, “I sensed that the shortage of kimchi in Korea could be a great business opportunity for me.”
The Global Times said that Koreans eat more kimchi in winter, so the price of cabbage is soaring due to a surge in demand, and Korea has imported 177,000 tons of kimchi from China by August this year.
“Red is not Chinese”… Chinese Kimchi Distortion Criticism Campaign▶ Click here for a larger view
The media emphasized, “This growth shows that Chinese kimchi is not only dominating the Korean restaurant industry with good quality and reasonable price, but also advancing into the table of Korean homes.”
The Global Times also reported that when China recently enacted its kimchi manufacturing method in line with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards, which is an international standard organization, the’Kimchi culture’ protection groups in Korea rebelled against “stealing the culture”, resulting in debate.
Earlier, on the 29th of last month, the Hwangu Sibo claimed that China had established six international food standards for the kimchi industry, and claimed that Korea, the originator of kimchi, was humiliated by obtaining approval from China.
In response, the Korean government said that the kimchi food standard was set as an international standard in 2001 by the UN International Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) International Food Standards Committee. Pickled) has been dismissed.
However, the controversy between Korea and China over’the origin of kimchi’ continues, such as Baidu, China’s largest search portal site, introduces Korean kimchi as Pao Chai, a Chinese-style pickled vegetable.
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