Controversy is growing as many instances have been found across Taiwan—at hotels, large supermarkets, and convenience stores—where kimchi is labeled as pao cai (泡菜).
Seo Kyung-duk, a professor at Sungshin Women's University, said on the 12th on social media (SNS) that "travelers who recently returned from Taiwan sent in tips," and also released photos showing kimchi mistranslated.
Seo added, "At a breakfast corner in a hotel in downtown Taipei, there was even a place that introduced kimchi as 'Chinese side dishes,'" noting that "large supermarkets, markets, and convenience stores across Taiwan are also mistranslating kimchi as 'pao cai' and selling it."
He went on to note that "Korea's 'kimchi' and China's 'pao cai' are clearly different foods," adding, "China is making the baseless claim that the origin of kimchi is pao cai and that it is their culture."
He also said, "Rather than only criticizing them for incorrect labeling, it is time for comprehensive outreach so that proper labeling can be used," adding, "the first step toward the true 'globalization of kimchi' is correcting the wrong labels around the world."
Earlier, in 2021, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism partially revised the Guidelines on Foreign-Language Translation and Notation of Public Terms and specified the correct Chinese notation for kimchi as 'xinqi (辛奇).'