Spanish Kimchi Sauce Sparks Controversy with Japanese Design, Fueling Misconceptions

Cultural distortion surrounding kimchi continues to arise in Europe, with a recent incident involving a kimchi sauce product manufactured by a Spanish company.

The product's label features a woman dressed in a traditional Japanese kimono, and even includes the Chinese characters ‘泡菜(paocai)', raising concerns that kimchi could be mistaken for a Japanese food item.

Professor Seo Kyoung-duk of Sungshin Women's University, who was alerted to the issue, expressed his apprehension, stating, "If such kimchi sauce is sold in Europe, kimchi could be misunderstood as a Japanese dish."

He further criticized the product, calling it a "wrong combination of origin, name, and design," and highlighted that this incident follows closely on the heels of German retailer ALDI mislabeling kimchi as 'Japanese Kimchi' on their website.

Professor Seo attributed these recurring errors to a "lack of understanding of Asian culture" and emphasized the need to correct such misrepresentations and designs, especially as K-food gains global traction.

He announced plans to launch a 'Hansik Globalization Campaign' centered in Europe starting next year to actively promote the true identity of kimchi and Korean cuisine.

Despite kimchi being officially recognized as 'Korea's indigenous fermented vegetable food' by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 2021, misunderstandings persist in some overseas markets.

Korean netizens reacted with outrage, commenting, "Are they going to make kimchi Japanese even in Spain?", "This is unbelievable, how long will this go on?", and "As the home of kimchi, we must firmly correct this."