The Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s leading newspaper, on April 2 posted a contribution from a Japanese woman saying kimchi originated from Korea. (Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp.)
By Lee Kyoung Mi and Kim Minji
A Japanese woman has contributed an article to her nation’s leading daily Yomiuri Shimbun saying kimchi originated from Korea.
In her contribution titled “Korea is kimchi’s head family” posted on April 2, homemaker Kyoko Sugino, 74, lauded the kimchi she had in Korea.
“About ten years ago, I visited Seoul with my friend because of Hallyu, thinking we could meet handsome men like those in the drama ‘Boys Over Flowers,’ but we were so absorbed by kimchi’s charm that we completely forgot about our original purpose,” she wrote.
“The kimchi served at any restaurant was delicious,” she added. “Whenever we said how tasty the kimchi was, the staff proudly said the taste ‘was our mothers.'”
She said she visited Seoul several more times and “to say I went there to have kimchi is no exaggeration.”
“I’ve heard of a recent movement in China claiming that kimchi is a Chinese tradition, and I understand why Koreans protest this argument given how their research on kimchi has made it what it is now.”
The Yomiuri Shimbun has the largest newspaper circulation in Japan with 7.35 million as of November last year.
km137426@korea.kr
