Professor Seo Kyung-duk of Sungshin Women's University strongly criticized TWS's Chinese member Han Jin for referring to kimchi as 'Pao Cai' (泡菜), stating, "It's really a mistake."
On the 5th, Professor Seo wrote on his social media (SNS), "There is controversy as Han Jin, a member of the K-pop group TWS, referred to kimchi as Pao Cai on a communication app with fans."
On the 1st, Han Jin responded to a fan's question, "Have you eaten?" by saying, "I had kimchi stew," and then added 'Pao Cai' in Chinese. After the controversy arose, Han Jin deleted the comment.
Professor Seo stated, "As you know, Korean kimchi and Chinese 'Pao Cai' are fundamentally different foods," and added, "Especially, China insists that the original of kimchi is 'Pao Cai' and claims it as their own culture. In this context, it is really wrong for the Chinese member Han Jin to refer to kimchi as 'Pao Cai'."
He continued, "Above all, as a star with significant external influence, he should have been more cautious and should have understood the cultural sentiments of Koreans," and added, "Although Han Jin's comment has been deleted, I hope such incidents do not happen again."
Professor Seo Kyung-duk has been actively working for the globalization of kimchi and its correct representation. He has placed kimchi advertisements in New York's Times Square and produced multilingual videos introducing the culture and history of kimchi.
[Lee Da-kyum, Star Today Reporter]
