South Koreans, Chinese Clash on Social Media over Chinese-style Kimchi Winning Int’l Certificate

Beijing recently won a certification from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for Pao Cai. (Reuters)
Beijing recently won a certification from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for Pao Cai. (Reuters)
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South Koreans, Chinese Clash on Social Media over Chinese-style Kimchi Winning Int’l Certificate

Beijing recently won a certification from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for Pao Cai. (Reuters)
Beijing recently won a certification from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for Pao Cai. (Reuters)

China’s efforts to win an international certification for Pao Cai, a pickled vegetable dish from Sichuan, is turning into a social media showdown between Chinese and South Korean netizens over the origin of Kimchi, a staple Korean cuisine made of cabbage.

Beijing recently won a certification from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for Pao Cai, an achievement the state-run Global Times reported as “an international standard for the Kimchi industry led by China.”

South Korean media was fast to dispute such a claim and accuse the bigger neighbor of trying to make Kimchi a type of China-made Pao Cai.

The episode triggered anger on South Korean social media.

“Its total nonsense, what a thief stealing our culture!” a South Korean netizen wrote on Naver.com, a widely popular web portal.

“I read a media story that China now says Kimchi is theirs, and that they are making international standard for it, It’s absurd. I’m worried that they might steal Hanbok and other cultural contents, not just Kimchi,” said Kim Seol-ha, a 28-year old in Seoul.

Some South Korean media even described the episode as China’s “bid for world domination,” while some social media comments flagged concerns that Beijing was exercising “economic coercion.”

On China’s Twitter-like Weibo, Chinese netizens were claiming Kimchi as their country’s own traditional dish, as most of Kimchi consumed in South Korea is made in China.

“Well, if you don’t meet the standard, then you’re not kimchi,” one wrote on Weibo. “Even the pronunciation of kimchi originated from Chinese, what else is there to say,” wrote another.

South Korea’s agriculture ministry on Sunday released a statement saying mainly that the ISO approved standard does not apply to Kimchi.

“It is inappropriate to report (about Pao Cai winning the ISO) without differentiating Kimchi from Pao Cai of China’s Sichuan,” the statement said.



'Retro Park' Revives 80s and 90s Gaming Nostalgia at the Esports World Cup 2025

The video game industry has undergone rapid evolution over the past decades. (SPA)
The video game industry has undergone rapid evolution over the past decades. (SPA)
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'Retro Park' Revives 80s and 90s Gaming Nostalgia at the Esports World Cup 2025

The video game industry has undergone rapid evolution over the past decades. (SPA)
The video game industry has undergone rapid evolution over the past decades. (SPA)

The video game industry has undergone rapid evolution over the past decades, with various devices and platforms shaping the features of successive generations, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Thursday.

In this context, the Retro Park pavilion drew large crowds at the Esports World Cup 2025, currently taking place at Boulevard Riyadh City. It offers an interactive journey through the world of classic video games, inspired by the 1980s and 1990s, continuing through the 2000s to the present day, starting with the 1972 "Odyssey," the world's first home gaming console, and culminating in today's virtual reality technologies.

In the 1970s, specifically in 1977, the Atari video game console gained prominence with its iconic game Pac-Man. In 1983, the Arab world saw the launch of its first Arabic-localized home gaming console, known as Sakhr, alongside the release of the Family game console, fondly remembered by a generation for the classic game Mario.

In the early 1990s, the Super Nintendo console emerged, accompanied by the release of Super Mario World in 1993. Arcade machines also became popular in gaming halls before many of their titles transitioned to home consoles.

A significant turning point occurred in 1996 with the launch of the PlayStation by Sony, which gained widespread popularity due to its hit game, Crash. The decade concluded with the release of the Sega Dreamcast video game console.

In the 2000s, home gaming advanced significantly with the release of the PlayStation 2 and 3, alongside popular games such as Ratchet & Clank and Black Ops. Moreover, Nintendo launched the highly successful Wii, while handheld consoles from Nintendo and PlayStation also gained traction. The emergence of YouTube in 2005 paved the way for "Let's Play" content and gaming-related media.

In the second decade of the millennium, video games continued to evolve with the rise of motion-based games such as Just Dance, while meme culture and reaction content spread among gamers and internet users, becoming part of their digital memory.

In 2020, virtual reality (VR) technology gained significant prominence through the use of VR headsets, elevating the gaming experience to unprecedented levels and becoming a key part of the industry's global future.

The Saudi scene is an active part of this evolution, with the Kingdom witnessing significant growth in the number of players and content creators, in line with the Saudi Vision 2030, which places strong emphasis on the gaming sector as part of digital transformation and youth empowerment.