top of page

The Construction of Culinary Nationalism: Koreans should consume made-in-Korea Kimchi

 

Other than providing a “we-they distinction” as mentioned above, even within a nation or ethnic group, food can also create psychological connections such as security, belonging and pride amongst the members internally (Hyojŭng Cho 210). As Kristin Surak argued in her research on Japan’s tea culture, food embodies the functions of “specification” and “differentiation”, which divide “good members” and “bad members” in a group, based on their knowledge on national food cultures, such as a good Japanese should be well-versed to tea-making (13). In the same sense, the Kimchi-led culinary nationalism pushed by the Korean government also upholds the notion that a good Korean should adopt a Korean eating habit, and consume locally produced food. In the late 1980s when the country was preparing for 1988 Olympic Games, the Korean government began to open the markets to foreign material culture including Western food cultures. American fast food shops and coffee shops then continued to increase in popularity while Korean people’s diet shifted to heavier consumption of bread, meat, sugar and instant coffee (Kwang-ok Kim 16, 18). On the contrary, consumption of traditional Korean food items, including Kimchi, is facing constant decrease since the last two decades (Kyung-Koo Han 151; BBC News 04 Feb. 2014; Chonsunilbo 22 Mar. 2014). More importantly, due to cheaper production cost, presently in Korea, a large proportion of Kimchi sold in supermarkets and served in restaurants is imported from China. These factors worried the Korean government, the Kimchi industry as well as the media, who frequently lament the loss of market as a loss of cultural ownership over Kimchi (Seoul Sinmun 20 Jul. 2013; Midas Dec 2013).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To remind Korean people to consume Kimchi, firstly, the government has nationalized, homogenized Kimchi to be a single cultural item. Citing from the research of Hyojŭng Cho’s study on the National Folklore Museum and The Pulmuone Kimchi Museum in Korea, though over 200 types/tastes of Kimchi exist in Korea, the diversity of Korean Kimchi is ignored in the museums, as a way to arouse the sense of belonging amongst Korean people and to indoctrinate that all Koreans are eating the exactly same food nationwide (Hyojŭng Cho 215; Kyung-Koo Han 157). Cho also pinpointed that the display boards in the two museums are commonly written in a nationalistic tone. For instance “Our wise ancestor” in Korean script and “The wise Korean ancestor” in English script are frequently spotted. She regards it as something with “education purpose” to promote ethnic nationalism amongst Koreans (213).

 

 

 

More than merely encouraging Kimchi consumption amongst ethnic Koreans, since the market loss of Kimchi to China is deemed a loss of cultural ownership, "where the Kimchi is produced", and "the origins of the ingredients” are also stressed by the Koran government. The Korean government manipulates the Buddhist philosophy of Sintopuri 신토불이 (literally means “body and earth are one”) by mixing it with the modern concept of well-being and food safety, in a bid to assert that “food from Korean soil is best for Korean bodies” (Kwang-ok Kim 18). In other words, Korean people should not only consume more Kimchi, but only the Kimchi produced in Korea and made with local ingredients (Cwiertka 370), arguing that the wholesomeness of Kimchi can only come into effect in made-in-Korea one. For example, Yong-jik Lee, the Deputy Director of the Division of Food Industry Policy, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs claimed in an interview:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also in 2005, amid the competition over Kimchi trade, the Korean Food and Drug Administration announced the discovery of parasite eggs in Chinese Kimchi products, blaming the safety standard of Kimchi produced in China. Rather than mere food safety issue, encouraging the consumption of domestic Kimchi is also a hidden agenda of the government (Kyung-Koo Han 162). Therefore, conspicuously, the Korean government’s move to construct Kimchi with nationalist sentiment, is out of the identity crisis brought about by the inflow of foreign food product and the declining traditional food culture, as Raymond Grew argued, “it is the greater freedom of choice and availability of more foreign foods causes the issue of identity to arise, and it is the consciousness of change that stimulates the inventive use of tradition” (11).

 

 

Lee Yong Jik/ the Deputy Director of the Division of Food Industry Policy, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

 

"It's Korea where those elements exist, so the kimchi made in Korea is full of very healthy enzymes. In China, the ingredients are different, and the environment is different as well, so you don't get the same enzymes. Korean kimchi and Chinese kimchi are two totally different things.(BBC News 04 Feb. 2014).

 

KORE3022 Korean Studies Reserach Project

The University of Hong Kong

 

From “Paocai” to “Xinqi” – The Role of Kimchi in Korean Culinary Nationalism

 

 

bottom of page