BTS Talks About Homemade "Kimchi"... Controversy Over "Paocai" Subtitles

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Seoyoung] Controversy arose after it was revealed that the Chinese subtitles of a web variety show featuring BTS had translated 'kimchi' as 'pao cai' (泡菜).

On the 15th, BTS released episode 142 of the web variety show "Run BTS" on 'V Live,' a global star internet live broadcast platform operated by Naver. In this episode, BTS members appeared and learned how to make kimchi from Baek Jong-won, CEO of The Born Korea, who is actively working as a culinary researcher in the broadcasting industry.

During the broadcast, the members were divided into two teams to compete in making fresh napa cabbage kimchi and green onion kimchi. Throughout the process, the members and CEO Baek repeatedly mentioned the word 'kimchi,' such as "Let's make kimchi that can be quickly made with napa cabbage." However, in the Chinese subtitles provided for fans in the Chinese-speaking region, the term was translated and written as 'pao cai.'

'Pao cai' refers to a type of pickled vegetable dish from the Sichuan province area in China. The Chinese side has repeatedly made unfounded claims that pao cai is the origin of kimchi and has attempted to incorporate kimchi into their own cultural sphere. Previously, it was also discovered that GS25 had labeled kimchi as pao cai in Chinese on rice balls sold in their stores, which sparked criticism from netizens.

In response, Naver explained that the translation was based on guidelines from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. In fact, the ministry's directive No. 427, "Guidelines for Foreign Language Translation and Notation of Public Terms," enacted in July last year, states that "conventional notations of food names already widely used in China are recognized as is," and provides examples indicating that translating kimchi as pao cai is not problematic.

In December last year, the civic group VANK discovered this directive and requested corrections. At that time, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism stated, "We will review and revise the directive in consultation with related ministries and experts, considering public sentiment in the future," but the content of the directive has yet to be amended.