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| Samgyetang / gettyimagesbank |
By Park Ji-won
China has claimed that Samgyetang, or traditional Korean ginseng chicken soup, is theirs, upsetting many Koreans who are tired of the neighboring country's cultural provocations.
On Baidu, the Chinese equivalent of Google, Tuesday, Samgyetang was described as a chicken soup dish originating from Guangdong province, China, which was later introduced to Korea. It adds that the dish later became one of the most iconic dishes beloved by Korea's royal family members.
The description is incorrect. According to the Rural Development Administration, Koreans have been making a soup with chicken since at least the Joseon era. Samgyetang was popular among wealthy Koreans during the Japanese colonial period and they enjoyed the chicken soup with ginseng powder. It became more popular among ordinary people following the 1960s.
Prof. Seo Kyung-duk of Sungshin Women's University, a self-proclaimed "publicist" for Korea, who has volunteered to correct inaccurate understandings of Korean history overseas, said he sent a complaint email to Baidu, urging the portal to revise the wrong information about the food.
"Baidu has stirred up a controversy by distorting history with Samgyetang, as it did with Kimchi recently … so I immediately sent an email to Baidu saying, 'China doesn't even use the Harmonized System (HS) ― or international names and numbers designated for traded products ― for Samgyetang, while Korea classifies the food with the number, 1602.32.1010." He added that he urged the website to revise the information to provide the proper information to Chinese netizens.
Some Koreans claimed that there should be no issue, as Samgyetang is simply Korea's dish. "There should be no feud over the origin of the food, because it is made in Korea. The more the controversy spreads, the more it helps the Chinese claim that the dish is theirs."
The controversy came after the website and China's influencers also claimed some Korean dishes as theirs over the last few months.
Last year, China's state-run "Global Times" newspaper claimed that China had led the international standard for pickled vegetables, including kimchi, following approval of the pickled food, paocai, by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Even though "paocai" in Chinese refers to a Chinese dish that is different from kimchi, which can be read as "paocai" in Chinese as well, the media wrote the story as if the two are same, which upset many Koreans and Korean media for "stealing a cultural asset."
Last year, Baidu also claimed that kimchi was made in China. The website removed the claim after Seo filed a complaint, but then added it again.
