"European Markets Openly Selling 'Kimchi Originating from China' Products"

Seokyeongdeok "Complaint Email Sent to the Company"

A major supermarket chain in Europe has been found selling kimchi labeled as "originating from China."

Professor Seo Kyung-deok of Sungshin Women's University stated on his Facebook on the 10th, "Recently, several netizens living in Europe reported about kimchi," adding, "At a famous supermarket chain in Europe, kimchi was openly sold with a label stating it 'originated from China.'"

He continued, "'Asia Green Garden,' the kimchi seller, is a private brand of the German supermarket chain Aldi," and pointed out, "The big issue is that the word 'Chinese' was written between the brand logo and 'kimchi,' and an even bigger problem is that the phrase 'originated from China' was written in German and Italian."

[Image source=Seokyungdeok, Professor at Sungshin Women's University, Facebook]

In response, Professor Seo said, "I sent a protest email to the company requesting the suspension of sales of the product." He explained, "How can such a thing happen in the heart of Europe? If they continue to sell it, I strongly demanded that they correctly revise 'originated from China' to 'originated from Korea' before selling."

Finally, he emphasized, "If you find any errors in the labeling of kimchi's origin, please report them," adding, "Correcting wrong labeling is the first step toward the 'globalization of kimchi.'"

Meanwhile, China continues to make unfounded claims that kimchi originated from pao cai. Pao cai is a pickled food from the Sichuan (四川) region of China, made by salting cabbage or chili peppers, and is similar to Western 'pickles.' However, China calls our kimchi 'Hanguk pao cai (韓國泡菜)' and claims it as the original. The official Chinese term for 'kimchi' is 'xin chi.'