3) Controversy over the kimchi project in China

On January 9, 2021, Chinese YouTuber Liziqi (李子柒) posted a video titled “The last episode of the ‘Life Series’: The life of white radish! - 一生系列产品最后一个视频—萝卜的一生 This video contains information on radish (white radish, 萝卜) and harvesting kimchi cabbages, making kimchi, and concocting kimchi dishes. But the hashtags ‘#ChineseCuisine #ChineseFood’ were the start of the problem. Many related articles sprouted in the local media on January 10, a day after Liziqi’s video was released, and the video was considered evidence of the Chinese government-sponsored “Kimchi project.”

To make matters worse, on January 13, Zhang Jun (張軍), a Chinese ambassador to the United Nations, posted an introduction and photos of kimchi on his Twitter, understood by Korean netizens as “claiming sovereignty over kimchi.”

While Korean netizens attack Liziqi’s video and Ambassador Zhang Jun’s tweet, the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, on January 13, posted a message on its official WeChat account titled “Liziqi’s making of kimchi is being criticized by Korean netizens: China, which made the first, should fight,” claiming that “the controversy over the kimchi project is paranoia caused by Korea’s lack of cultural confidence” (Chosun Ilbo, January 14, 2021).

Moreover, the English version of the China Global Times said on January 14 that Ambassador Zhang Jun was from Liaoning Province in northeastern China, where kimchi is commonly eaten, and the “Kimchi conflict” between Korea and China reflects the two countries’ relationship with culture and food for thousands of years. And the china Global Times added the claim of the “King of kimchi” is unnecessary (Seoul Economy, January 14, 2021).

As Korean netizens’ anti-China sentiment intensified amid a series of attacks and anti-attacks on the kimchi project, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying (華春瑩) said in a regular briefing, “We support beneficial and friendly exchanges on the Pao Cai issue.” He also announced, “We should not hurt emotions by intervening in prejudice or encouraging confrontation” (Money Today, January 21, 2021). Thus, the emotional confrontation between South Korea and China over kimchi seems to have ended.

Then, Chinese YouTuber Liziqi, who incited the controversy over the kimchi project, has already posted the kimchi-themed video “Sour and sweet, a delicacy to warm your wintry days—spicy Chinese cabbage (Labaicai). (温暖一冬的酸甜回味—辣白菜)” on YouTube on December 30, 2017. This video showed the process of pulling cabbages out of the field, dipping them in salt, making kimchi, frying pork and kimchi, and boiling them with water. It also had a “#ChineseFood” hashtag, which was not in the media at the time.

Liziqi added in this video, “It is a traditional dish for Yanbian Chinese of Korean nationality, but the recipe varies from family to family,” in English and Chinese, and the original text is as follows.

The direct translation of labaicai (辣白菜) is “very spicy cabbage,” which means “cabbage kimchi” in China. The ethnic Koreans in northeastern China are Korean, but their nation is the People’s Republic of China. Kimchi is a traditional Korean food in Korea, but it is also a traditional food for Koreans in the People’s Republic of China. During Liziqi’s criticism by Korean netizens for expressing labaicai as “#ChineseFood,” many Chinese must have felt beaten without knowing why. That’s why the controversy over the kimchi project has flared up.

Before the founding of the Republic of Korea (1919–) and the People’s Republic of China (1949–), some Koreans who had created and developed kimchi culture lived in northeastern China. Now, millions of Koreans live there as Chinese, and the labaicai they eat is considered Chinese food. At the same time, Koreans living in South Korea never accept the claim that kimchi is Chinese food. Under these circumstances, the controversy over the origin of kimchi is bound to happen again.

Such controversy has only intensified anti-China sentiment among Koreans without producing any results. According to a poll conducted by the Hankook Ilbo and Hankook Research, the proportion of respondents with anti-China sentiments exceeded 60% among young people in their 20s and 30s (Hankook Ilbo, June 14, 2021). COVID-19, fine dust, and the kimchi controversy seemed to have caused anti-China sentiment. Given an unfair claim or misunderstanding about kimchi, it would be natural to resolve it through information exchange and discussion, but it must not encourage controversy and turn into an unnecessary dispute.

Table 3. News release – controversy over the origin of kimchi