Food minister asks China to open up market for Korean kimchi

The Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said Tuesday that it will encourage China increase imports of the Korean spicy side dish kimchi and milky rice wine makgeolli.

Minister Suh Kyu-yong asked Chinese Agriculture Minister Han Changfu at an agriculture meeting involving Korea, China and Japan Sunday to permit more imports of Korean kimchi, makgeolli and ginseng aged four years by setting up separate hygiene standards for the three products.

The birthplace of kimchi, Korea is having difficulty advancing into the Chinese market. Korea imported 230,000 tons of Chinese kimchi last year, but exported 61 tons back. Chinese kimchi is also encroaching on Korea`s restaurant market through low prices. They are sold 1,000 (90 cents) to 1,200 won (1.80 dollars) per kilogram.

Korea`s sluggish kimchi exports to China are due to Beijing`s hygiene standard for salted vegetables to that of kimchi. Chinese refer to salted vegetables as "salting vegetables and then desalinating, seasoning and sealing them" and define their criteria as "less than 30 colon bacilli per 100 gram."

As kimchi generates lactic acid bacillus, it cannot meet this criteria. Sterilizing kimchi to meet this standard will destroy lactic acid bacillus, meaning the side dish will lose its value as fermented food.

The same goes for makgeolli, which also generates lactic acid bacillus. For makgeolli, China applies the standard "less than 50 colon bacilli per milliliter," which is also applied to traditional Chinese liquor.

The Korean Food Ministry expects concrete solutions to this hygiene issue at the fourth experts` meeting on Korean-Sino food standards scheduled on April 25-27 in Korea. A ministry official said, "We`ve been asking China to set up a reasonable hygiene standard for makgeolli since 2009 and for kimchi since 2010. Since the minister has directly brought up the matter, we expect a fruitful outcome."

Korean kimchi makers expect to cater to middle and higher income consumers in large Chinese cities once China alters its hygiene standards.

nuk@donga.com