Seoul doesn’t want “pao cai” to be the official Chinese translation for kimchi

Seoul wants to promote a new Chinese translation for kimchi called “xinqi” instead of “pao cai” at restaurants in the city.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, they will be conducting inspections at stores and restaurants in popular tourist areas like Myeong-dong in central Seoul.

The purpose of these inspections is to ensure that the correct official Chinese term for kimchi is being used.

In September 2021, the city government officially registered “xinqi” as the Chinese translation for kimchi in its foreign language dictionary.

This decision was announced by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, which had already amended its guidelines for the translation and notation of official terms in July 2021.

The term “xinqi” was chosen after a thorough expert review.

This decision was prompted by a cultural dispute between Korea and China in 2020.

A Chinese tabloid published an article claiming that Chinese “pao cai” had become the international standard for the kimchi industry.

This article caused a significant controversy in Korean society, with some perceiving it as an attempt by China to appropriate Korean culture.

Despite the Culture Ministry’s announcement, many places in Seoul still use “pao cai” as the Chinese translation for kimchi.

To address this, the metropolitan government plans to form a citizen group that will evaluate the representations and translations of food in foreign languages at stores and restaurants throughout the city.

Furthermore, the city government has requested Google Korea to update the translation of kimchi to “xinqi” as well.

To encourage stores and restaurants to correct the translations on their foreign language menus, the metropolitan government will collaborate with special tourist zone offices to develop appropriate measures.

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