Kimchi Spat Leads to Further Rise in Anti-China Sentiment in Korea
The anti-China sentiment has always been there in the Korean public; it is just incidents like this bring it out publicly:
The Chinatown issue comes on the back of Koreans’ protesting claims made by some Chinese influencers and media that kimchi is their traditional food. After Beijing received an international certification for its pickled vegetable dish, “paocai,” in November, China’s state-run Global Times reported that this certification amounted to “an international standard for the kimchi industry led by China.” Since then, the nationalist newspaper has been running articles containing the implication that Beijing is leading the kimchi industry and that the dish originated in China.
Korea Times
These articles led to an online spat between the internet users of both countries, with Koreans arguing that China was now attempting to steal Korea’s cultural legacy.
You can read much more at the link about why the anti-China sentiment is rising in Korea right now.
I dunno, my guess is most people have never heard of “paocai,” so Korea has a pretty significant lead on kimchi being their traditional food.