Junggu Takes on Correcting Chinese Notation: "Kimchi, Not Paocai but Shinchi"

42 out of 46 Myeongdong Restaurants Mistranslate Kimchi as 'Paochai'
Jung-gu Inspects Menus and Corrects Them Directly

Jung-gu, Seoul, placed stickers labeled 'Sinchi (辛奇)' on restaurant menus that incorrectly listed kimchi as 'Paochai (泡菜)' in Chinese. (Photo by Jung-gu Office)

Jung-gu District Office in Seoul (Mayor Kim Gil-seong) announced on the 31st that it inspected restaurant menus in Myeongdong and distributed notices on the correct Chinese notation of kimchi to rectify the Chinese translation of kimchi.

Kimchi, a representative food of our nation, is correctly written in Chinese as ‘Xinqi (辛奇)’, but most restaurants in the Myeongdong tourist district, which attracts many Chinese tourists, had mistakenly labeled it as 'Pao Cai (泡菜)'.

From the 22nd to the 26th, the district visited 157 restaurants in the Myeongdong tourist district with six consumer food hygiene inspectors to check their menus. Among the 46 restaurants using menus with Chinese characters, only four correctly labeled kimchi as Xinqi.

Of the 42 restaurants that had incorrectly labeled kimchi as Pao Cai, 39 had stickers with the correct term Xinqi placed over the mistranslated characters on their menus. The remaining three restaurants decided to prepare new menus.

Merchants responded with comments such as, “We didn’t know the notation was wrong,” and “It’s good that the district office corrected it without any additional cost.”

The district also distributed a ‘Notice on the Correct Chinese Notation of Kimchi.’ The notice included the proper Chinese notation for dishes made with kimchi and explained the differences between kimchi and Pao Cai.

The international standard for kimchi was established in 2001, when the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CODEX) under the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recognized Korea’s kimchi as the international standard for kimchi. Pao Cai is a type of Chinese pickled dish that differs completely from kimchi in its preparation method, fermentation principles, and consumption.

A district official explained, “Incorrect notation of kimchi could lead to distortion of our culture, so the district took direct action to correct it.” Jung-gu plans to continue promoting this through the Central Association of Food Service to eradicate incorrect notations.

Kim Gil-seong, Mayor of Jung-gu, said, “It is Jung-gu’s duty to properly promote our culture in the world-famous tourist destination Myeongdong,” adding, “We will continue to take the lead in correcting wrong notations.”