Seoul pushes xinqi as Chinese translation of kimchi

Social Affairs

Published: 27 Sep. 2023, 16:52 Updated: 27 Sep. 2023, 17:01

Seoul pushes xinqi as Chinese translation of kimchi

Volunteer workers at the Nowon District branch of the Korean Red Cross in northern Seoul make kimchi to be handed out to those in need near the area on June 28. [YONHAP]

Xinqi will be pushed as the preferred Chinese translation for kimchi at restaurants in Seoul, instead of pao cai.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Wednesday it will inspect stores and restaurants in major tourist spots such as Myeong-dong in Jung District, central Seoul, to see if they have used the correct official Chinese term for kimchi.

The city government had registered the Chinese translation of kimchi as xinqi in its official foreign language dictionary in September 2021, which was followed by an announcement by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The Culture Ministry in July 2021 amended its official guidelines for the foreign language translation and notation of the official terms, changing the Chinese term for kimchi to xinqi.

The term, with characters meaning spicy and unique, was chosen through an expert review partially due to its similar pronunciation to kimchi.

The decision was made as kimchi became the subject of a heated cultural feud between Korea and China in 2020 when the nationalistic Chinese tabloid Global Times published an article claiming that Chinese pao cai, pickled vegetables from Sichuan Province, had become the international standard for the kimchi industry.

The article sparked an uproar in Korean society, with some referring to the article as a Chinese attempt to steal Korean culture.

Korean kimchi and Chinese pao cai are two different dishes.

Kimchi is also a term for fermented vegetables, but unlike pao cai, it typically refers to fermented napa cabbage that uses seasonings such as red pepper powder and garlic.

Google translates Kimchi as pao cai in Chinese, in this screen grab taken on Wednesday. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Despite the Culture Ministry’s announcement, however, the Chinese translation of kimchi is often written as pao cai in many places in the city, the city government said.

The metropolitan government will form a group of citizens to check the representations and translations of food in foreign languages at stores and restaurants throughout the city.

The city government on Tuesday also requested Google Korea to revise the translation of kimchi to xinqi. Currently, the service translates kimchi to pao cai.

The metropolitan government will work with seven special tourist zone offices to draw up measures that will incentivize stores and restaurants to fix the terms on their foreign language menus.

The seven areas are Gangnam and Jamsil in southern Seoul, Myeong-dong, Jongno, Dongdaemun and Itaewon in central Seoul and Hongdae in western Seoul.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]