"Dolsot Bibimbap is Our Cultural Heritage"... Openly Sold at 1,000 Stores in China

China's Controversy Over Designating 'Dolsot Bibimbap' as Intangible Cultural Heritage
Promotion of Related Content at Over 1,000 Chain Stores
Ministry of Foreign Affairs: "We Will Firmly Respond to Historical Distortion"

An advertisement board of the Chinese franchise 'Michun,' which operates with dolsot bibimbap as its signature menu.
[Photo by Professor Seokyungdeok's team]

It has recently come to light that Dolsot Bibimbap, one of Korea's traditional dishes, was designated as a provincial-level intangible cultural heritage in China three years ago, sparking controversy. Meanwhile, across China, the number of chain stores selling Dolsot Bibimbap while promoting this fact has reportedly exceeded 1,000.

Professor Seo Kyung-deok of Sungshin Women's University revealed on his Facebook on the 23rd, "After receiving many reports following last week's major controversy, I came to know about the Chinese franchise 'Michun,' which operates Dolsot Bibimbap as its signature menu." According to Professor Seo, this franchise has already surpassed 1,000 stores nationwide in China, and inside the stores, it is promoted as a "Joseonjok intangible cultural heritage." The stores use advertising boards featuring a woman wearing a hanbok holding Dolsot Bibimbap, which "seemed to support the unfounded claim that hanbok originated from China's hanfu," Professor Seo pointed out.

He expressed anger, saying, "They have long made baseless claims that traditional Korean foods like kimchi and samgyetang belong to China, but creating a chain to promote Dolsot Bibimbap crosses the line." He added, "It is especially concerning that foreign tourists visiting China might mistakenly believe Dolsot Bibimbap is a Chinese dish." Professor Seo promised, "Taking this incident as an opportunity, I will continue to carry out multilingual video campaigns to properly promote Korea's traditional foods worldwide."

Earlier, the government of Jilin Province in China included the cooking method of Dolsot Bibimbap under the category "Joseonjok Dolsot Bibimbap Making Technique (cooking skill)" in its regional intangible cultural heritage list in 2021. In response, the Korean government strongly criticized this as an "attempt to distort history by China." On the 20th, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, "Recognizing that historical issues are important matters related to our identity, we will firmly respond to China's attempts to distort history." It also emphasized, "Including this measure by Jilin Province, we are urging China to continue necessary efforts to ensure that issues related to our cultural identity do not negatively affect friendly sentiments between the peoples of the two countries."