"'Traditional Cuisine' Kimchi Making by Chinese Influencer... Seokyungdeok Calls It a 'Foolish Trick'"

"An Attempt to Emphasize Kimchi as a Chinese Dish"

A Chinese influencer is causing controversy by tagging a video of making kimchi in a rural setting with 'Chinese culture' and 'Chinese traditional cuisine.' Professor Seo Kyung-deok of Sungshin Women's University pointed out that this is an attempt to emphasize kimchi, a Korean dish, as their own national food.

Chinese influencers Mr. Biao (left) and Li Ziqi, who claim kimchi as their country's food.

On the 7th, Professor Seo Kyung-deok shared on his social media service (SNS), "The reason for promoting kimchi using rural life is to externally emphasize that it is a dish 'made and eaten in Chinese countryside from long ago,'" adding, "Do they really think the world will be fooled by this? It is nothing but a foolish trick."

The influencer 'Mister Biao,' who posted the controversial videos, recently uploaded three videos of making kimchi by hand while living in the countryside. The videos were tagged with hashtags such as 'Chinese culture' and 'Chinese cuisine.' Currently, the videos have surpassed 30 million views, and his Instagram followers reach 370,000.

Professor Seo also mentioned the case of Chinese star YouTuber Li Ziqi, who caused controversy in 2021 by tagging a video of making kimchi with the hashtag 'ChineseFood.'

At that time, Li Ziqi, who had 14 million subscribers, filmed herself salting napa cabbage in the countryside and coating it with red seasoning made from chili powder to make kimchi. The kimchi-making video was tagged as 'Chinese food,' presenting kimchi as a traditional Chinese dish.

Professor Seo said, "As the whole world pays attention to and enjoys Korean culture, the 'inferiority complex' among Chinese people is growing day by day," and raised his voice, saying, "We should turn this to our advantage and promote our culture more widely in a more sophisticated way."