Cultural Heritage Administration Promotes Kimjang Culture Through Public Participation and Public-Private Collaboration

'One, Two, Three Kimchi Contest' Nationwide Online Judging
CJ CheilJedang Bibigo and 'Kimjang Culture Promotion Project'

The Cultural Heritage Administration announced on the 27th that it will promote public participation programs and public-private collaboration projects to raise awareness of the winter kimchi-making and sharing culture known as Kimjang. The public participation program includes the "One, Two, Three Kimchi Contest," held in July in collaboration with the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation. An online public voting will be conducted until the 10th of next month for the works that passed the first round of judging. Twenty-three works will be selected through voting on the Kimchi Contest website. The public-private collaboration project is the "Kimjang Culture Promotion Project" in partnership with CJ CheilJedang Bibigo. This project involves producing Kimjang culture video content and conducting a non-face-to-face kimchi cooking class (on the 30th) with broadcaster Alberto Mondi and chef Park Jun-woo. In November, a Kimjang experience event will also be held at Gyeongbokgung Palace. The food art video announcing the start can be viewed on the Cultural Heritage Administration's official YouTube channel and the K Intangible Heritage Companion Instagram.

Kimjang culture was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013. Kimchi-making, including Kimjang culture, was recognized for its historicity, social value, and uniqueness, and was designated as a National Intangible Cultural Property in 2017. The origins of Kimjang culture, confirmed in historical texts such as the "Goryeosa" and "Dongguk Isanggukjip," established it as a winter preparation custom during the Joseon Dynasty. Its cooperative labor and sharing have been maintained through various communities and generations to the present day. Its ingredients, manufacturing methods, and fermentation processes have distinct characteristics that differentiate it from other countries' fermented and preserved foods such as China's Paochai (泡菜), Japan's Tsukemono (漬物), Germany's Sauerkraut, and India's Achar. A Cultural Heritage Administration official stated, "We will continue to actively promote Kimjang culture domestically and internationally as part of proactive administration, so that more people can share the wisdom of daily life and communal values."