GS25·7-Eleven, Paochai Labeling Controversy... Sales Suspension and Corrective Actions

Convenience Store Industry, Comprehensive Survey Conducted

Kimchi is labeled as pao cai (泡菜) on the rice ball products sold by GS25.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] GS25 and 7-Eleven immediately took corrective action after controversy arose over labeling kimchi as ‘paocai (泡菜)’.

According to the industry on the 2nd, major convenience stores conducted a full inspection of all items the previous day. GS25 stopped selling the controversial product and plans to fully cover disposal costs for franchise stores. A GS25 official stated, "We plan to sell products with improved foreign language product names starting from the 4th, and are also reviewing measures to prevent recurrence."

It was confirmed that 7-Eleven also used the paocai label on some products. A 7-Eleven official said, “Production of products labeled with paocai was immediately halted,” and “from next week, the labeling will be corrected and reproduction will begin.” Since 2018, CU has completely renewed all product packaging and uses only English for product descriptions. A CU official explained, “When labeled in Chinese, there can be inaccurate mistranslations, so we do not include it separately.”

This controversy began when an anonymous office worker posted on the community Blind that the description of GS25’s ‘Spam Egg Kimchi Fried Rice Ball’ product labeled kimchi as paocai. The attached photo showed kimchi labeled in English (Kimchi), Japanese (キムチ), and Chinese (泡菜). Paocai refers to Chinese-style pickled vegetables, which differ from traditional Korean kimchi in preparation and taste. It is considered one of the major examples of China distorting Korean history.

The food industry complains that there is no suitable Chinese character substitute for kimchi. Earlier in the early 2010s, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs designated the Chinese-style name for kimchi as ‘Xinqi (辛奇)’ and applied for trademark rights in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, but it was criticized for its low versatility. Xinqi means spicy and fresh, so it is difficult to cover varieties such as white kimchi and dongchimi.