Global Breaking News - Thursday, May 2, 2024

China’s effort to win an international certification for Pao Cai, a pickled vegetable dish from Sichuan, is turning into a large disagreement on social media. The disagreement is between Chinese and South Korean internet users. They disagree about the origin of Kimchi, a common Korean food made of cabbage. China recently won a certification from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for Pao Cai. The state-run Global Times reported the award as “an international standard for the Kimchi industry led by China.” South Koreans quickly disagreed, especially on social media. “Its total nonsense, what a thief stealing our culture!” a South Korean internet user wrote on Naver.com. “I read a media story that China now says Kimchi is theirs, and that they are making [an] international standard for it…I’m worried that they might steal Hanbok and other cultural contents, not just Kimchi,” said Kim Seol-ha, a 28-year old in Seoul.