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🗓️ 26 December 2024
⏱️ 11 minutes
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In the run-up to the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, in the United States, a row broke out between Japan and South Korea over who would supply the athletes' village with kimchi.
The two countries also took their dispute to the United Nations' Codex Alimentarius, an organisation which sets voluntary standards for food.
Dr Chaelin Park from the World Institute of Kimchi tells Vicky Farncombe how South Koreans were upset because they thought Japan was "attempting to take over" their national dish.
"For Koreans, kimchi is more than just food - it’s part of our cultural identity," she says.
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(Photo: Kimchi. Credit: Getty Images)
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0:46.8 | Hi, you're listening to the Witness History podcast from the BBC World Service with me, Vicky Farncom. |
0:52.4 | All this week we're bringing you programmes about food. I'm taking you back to the 1990s, |
0:56.7 | when a diplomatic war broke out between Japan and South Korea over fermented cabbage. |
1:00.7 | It's 1996 and we're in Atlanta in the United States, where preparations are in full swing |
1:08.1 | for the upcoming Olympics. |
1:10.1 | Along with putting the finishing touches |
1:11.9 | on the 29 different sports venues, there's also the small matter of what to feed the |
1:17.4 | athletes in the village and this has unwittingly caused a diplomatic dispute in East Asia. |
1:24.0 | A Japanese firm has bid to be the official supplier of Camucci, a spicy cabbage side dish. |
1:31.1 | And it's not gone down well in South Korea. |
1:34.7 | The reason, Camucci is a take on kimchi, the Korean national dish. |
1:40.2 | So they say, if anyone should be supplying the Olympic village, it should be a Korean firm. |
1:46.2 | Koreans were particularly sensitive to the issue, perceiving Japan as attempting to take over kimchi. |
1:55.2 | Dr. Chelyn Park from the World Institute of Kimchi was 16 at a time and remembers the outrage. |
2:02.2 | For Koreans, kimchi is more than just food. It's part of our culture identity. |
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