Saturday 18 July 2009

Kimchi's Great Claims, or The Sorry State of Korean Journalism


Koreans are proud of their national food, kimchi. That much is understandable. Many countries have a national food that they take pride in. It's only natural, after all.

But with Korea, it goes beyond the normal and the understandable.

(Note that this commentary comes from a kimchi-lover. It's always in my fridge, and I will go without cheese before I will go without kimchi, which, for me, is a mighty thing indeed. I've included a picture of radish kimchi (cubed, on the left) and cabbage kimchi for reference.)

Koreans have something of an international inferiority complex. This is not an original insight on my part, but rather a generally agreed upon view amongst expats and foreign visitors here. Perhaps this is also understandable, as Korea is a country that has a history of (repeated) invasion (by Japan), is rather small (yet recently--from a historical perspective--large in economic rankings), and is a 'younger brother', in a sense, of the ever-eclipsing U.S.

So taking pride in a national food is important to Koreans. And it is good. And healthy. Yes, it is.

However, some of the claims that are made about it are irrational and, in my opinion, damaging to Korea and Koreans.

The latest, that I read today, is unacceptable by all educated people and should be retracted and an apology issued (but there we run into the national pride thing).

The article, about a future opening of a kimchi research lab, published in The Korea Times (7/18-19, p. 2), one of the two national English language newspapers, states that "Studies have shown that kimchi is highly nutritious and effective in preventing cancer [my emphasis]".
That is complete and utter bullshit. Please show me the studies. I am interested, and so is the rest of the world, in seeing the scientific evidence.

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