By Kim Da-ye
Kimchi is turning into a rare commodity, with supermarkets displaying “out of stock” signs, and the prices of Chinese cabbage and white radish, the main ingredients for Koreans’ main side dish, being jacked up many times.
With the traditional “gimjang” season when a large amount of kimchi for winter use approaching, the shortages are forcing the government to remove tariffs on imports from China.
According to Statistics Korea, the prices of fresh vegetables including cabbage, white radishes, garlic and peppers as well as Koreans’ favorite lettuce have gone 84.4 percent in September from a year earlier, accounting for a lofty 3.6 percent hike in consumer prices.
On Friday morning, a housewife was choosing Chinese cabbages at E-Mart in Yangjae-dong, Seoul. “The size is even smaller than the ones available yesterday,” she murmured. “The price is a whopping 7,500 won; although it is a bit cheaper than yesterday.”
The price of 7,500 won is an improvement from four days ago, when a head of Chinese cabbage sold for 13,800 won at the large Nonghyup Hanaro Club supermarket.
Shelves that were usually full of readymade kimchi packs were completely empty with a sign apologizing for the lack of stock at E-Mart.
Statistics Korea data showed that the price of Chinese cabbage in September went up 60.9 percent from August, or 118.9 percent from a year ago. The price isn’t likely to drop much in October with the amount of radishes and cabbage to be sold expected to be just half of what was available last year. The Korea Rural Economy Institute (KREI) said that the current high prices would drop in October by up to 16 percent _ to 18,000 won for 18 kilograms of radishes and 13,000 won for 10 kilograms of cabbage.
The Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MIFAFF) announced Friday that it will import 100 tons of Chinese cabbage and 50 tons of white radishes from China. It will also temporarily remove the 30-percent tariff on imported radishes and the 27-percent on cabbage. MIFAFF says it plans to import more of the vegetables, depending on the demand.
Lotte Mart, a large supermarket chain, also plans to import 50,000 heads of cabbage in early October and sell them at 2,000 to 3,000 won a head.
Not everyone welcomes the government’s action to import key kimchi ingredients from China.
A housewife who gave only her last name Ahn said, “I guess cabbages are grown in different soil in China. I am not sure if those cabbages would suit our body.” Ahn says she is still eating kimchi made last December.
Wee Doo-hwan, secretary general of the progressive Korean Peasants League, said, “The vegetable prices went up because land for farming has been removed for the four-river refurbishment project while the weather has been strange and we received too much rainfall. We need to correct the problem at its root rather than depending on imports. We don’t know if this crisis will come again.”
Restaurants are feeling warm toward the policy. Many owners say that they cannot stop serving or serve less kimchi even if they lose money this month.
Apart from the import of cabbage from China, the ministry says it will financially support farmers so that they can put fertilizer on weak plants and harvest them early. It says that it will be able to supply 50,000 to 60,000 tons of Chinese cabbage during this fall that was supposed to be released between January and April next year.
In the meantime, housewives and other kimchi makers have come up with alternatives including making it with other kinds of vegetables or cabbage in brine and growing vegetables on their own.
The municipal government of Goesan in North Chungcheong Province became an overnight star when it announced Thursday that it will sell 20 kilogram packets of cabbage in brine at 25,000 won. Its website got shut down when too many people tried to access it.
On Friday at the Nonghyup Hanaro Club in Yangjae-dong, 10 kilogram packs of cabbage in brine were being sold at 69,000 won. At the discount section for the fresh vegetable corner, housewives were gathered to select the best packs of cabbage leaves priced at 200 won per 100 grams.
The lack of Chinese cabbage has also spawned stories that are now hot potatoes on news portals.
It was reported Thursday that President Lee Myung-bak ordered a Cheong Wa Dae chef to serve Kimchi made of western cabbage whose price has also gone up. Netizens compared the President to Marie Antoinette, the queen of French King Louis XVI, who is believed to have told the starving public, “Let them eat cake.” Eight kilograms of western cabbage was auctioned Friday at 10,464 won on average compared to 10 kilograms of Chinese cabbage auctioned at 17,842 won at the Garak Market, Seoul.
Additionally, a group of three men were caught by the police in Gangwon Province for stealing 420 heads of Chinese cabbage, according to local news agency Yonhap.