TV personality Moon Se-yoon and Professor Seo Kyung-duk have teamed up to make one thing clear to global audiences: Korea’s kimchi and China’s pao cai are not the same dish.
The duo released a multilingual video on Dec. 30 via YouTube titled “Kimchi and Pao Cai: What’s the Difference?” The four-minute clip, produced with support from Hyungseong F&B (CEO Park Yong-hyung), is available in Korean and English so viewers worldwide can tune in.
The video breaks down how each food is made and stored, and explains how their standards differ. It highlights that kimchi’s Codex standard carries the status of an international public norm, while the ISO standard for pao cai is a voluntary private guideline.
“I wanted this video to debunk the claim that kimchi originated from pao cai,” Seo said. “Those assertions can be seen as stemming from the elevated status of kimchi amid the Korean Wave―and from insecurity about the growing influence of Korean culture.”
Moon, who often spotlights kimchi on various shows, added, “I’m honored to narrate a project with real cultural meaning. I hope viewers in Korea and around the world check it out.”
Seo also noted, “We’ll continue a ‘global video campaign’ to confidently counter distortions of history and culture and correct misinformation.”
[Photo= Professor Seo Kyung-duk’s team]
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Sun-ae)