The “Kimjang Project” website, which connects Koreans and local citizens through kimchi, was officially archived in The British Library——the UK’s national library.

The British Library is the second largest library in the world and holds about 150 million books. As the founding organization of the International Internet Preservation Consortium (IIPC), which preserves websites of cultural value for future generations, the library has collected and archived 20,000 British websites since 2005.

The Kimjang Project website was created by the UK-based Korean British Cultural Exchange (KBCE) in order to provide web resources such as an introduction to kimjang and its core values, various kimchi recipes, videos, and images. Relevant information on kimchi and kimjang culture were provided by WiKim. The website also published an English cook book, entitled “21 Authentic Kimchi Recipes,” in collaboration with WiKim.

“21 Authentic Kimchi Recipes” introduces not only the South Korean “kimjang kimchi,” but also the North Korean “wrapped kimchi” and “diced Korean radish kimchi with pollack,” and the “Korean soybean paste kimchi” made by Koreans living in Yanbian. For foreigners who have never experienced Korean food, a brief introduction to Korean food was provided and local specialty kimchi and kimchi pots were illustrated on a map to highlight the diversity of kimchi.

“21 Authentic Kimchi Recipes” can be downloaded from the Kimjang Project website as a pdf file. The British Library web archive only preserves specially selected websites that represent British heritage or address global issues and values. Therefore, it is quite unusual that a website dedicated to kimjang has been selected for its web archive without a separate application process.

Nevertheless, it is quite inspiring that valuable records related to kimchi have been regarded to be worthy of preservation in the UK. Power to all the proud kimchi eaters!

The Kimjang Project website can be found here: https://www.kimjangproject.com