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2023-07-07 On October 6, the price of cabbage in the Korean market was 12,000 won (10,000 won is about 60 yuan). This price has doubled compared to August and is more than six times the price at that time compared to the same period last year.
Every year at the beginning of winter, Korea enters the "kimchi season," and many people make kimchi to prepare for the winter and the following spring. But this year, just as the "kimchi season" is about to begin, a "kimchi crisis" has arrived unannounced.
As the main raw material for the production of kimchi cabbage, production has been greatly reduced, the price soared, shaking the Korean society up and down: the people lined up to buy cabbage, the government emergency imported cabbage, the Presidential Office with cheap cabbage kimchi, netizens mocked the President does not sympathize with the plight of the people, the opposition also took advantage of the opportunity to take advantage of the situation. It can be said that this "kimchi crisis" fully demonstrated to the world the status of kimchi in the hearts and lives of Koreans, and also triggered the attention of the world. However, a closer look reveals that this "Kimchi Crisis" should be more accurately described as a "Cabbage Crisis".
Cabbage as expensive as $82 a plant
People's living habits are affected
On Sept. 27, the retail price of Korean cabbage reached an all-time high: 13,800 won (about $82) per plant.
Market demand for radish kimchi has increased dramatically due to the surge in cabbage prices, pushing the price of radish up more than two times compared to the same period last year. According to statistics, radish in Korea recently sold for 4,150 won per stick, a jump of more than 250 percent from 1,180 won per stick in the same period last year.
In this regard, the South Korean media said that there is now a "kimchi chaos", South Koreans can not do without "kimchi", but this year they are afraid to face a "cruel fall".
As the most basic and popular ingredient in Korean kimchi, the soaring price of cabbage has turned kimchi, which was originally a must-have for every Korean meal, into "golden cabbage," directly affecting the daily lives of Koreans.
For many foreigners, kimchi is the first thing that comes to mind when they think of Korea, and for Koreans, kimchi is a necessity for three meals a day. Koreans consume about 1.45 million tons of kimchi every year, of which about 450,000 tons are made in factories, while the rest is made by Koreans or restaurants. Although kimchi can be easily purchased at stores, many Koreans still prefer to make their own kimchi at home, and many homes have special kimchi refrigerators.
However, this year's "kimchi crisis" has directly affected this traditional eating habit of the Korean people.
In many Korean restaurants, diners often eat meat rolled in cabbage leaves, but now Koreans joke that the habit will have to change because cabbage is more expensive than a lot of meat.
Many Koreans are worried that the kimchi crisis will affect the supply of kimchi not only at the moment, but also throughout the winter and next spring. Next month, the annual Korean "kimchi season" will begin, many families in South Korea will buy cabbage, radish and other raw materials, making kimchi for winter and the next spring, but now, South Koreans are worried that the soaring price of cabbage will affect this year's kimchi production.
Citizens travel to the countryside to make purchases
Government emergency imports
In order to buy enough cabbages, people in Seoul wake up before dawn to head to the market to stand in line. Many Seoul residents simply travel to nearby rural areas on weekends in an attempt to buy cabbage directly from cabbage growers.
In the face of the raging "kimchi crisis", the South Korean government also urgent countermeasures. October 1, South Korea's presidential office introduced to curb the soaring prices of cabbage plans, announced the temporary abolition of 30% of cabbage, carrots 27% of the import tariffs, it is expected that this policy will be implemented to the end of this year. In addition, South Korea will also urgently import 160 tons of cabbage from China, each cabbage before tax sales price of 2,000 to 3,000 won. If this amount is still not enough to meet market demand, the Korean government is also considering importing cabbage from other countries.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government, on the other hand, purchased 300,000 cabbages from farmers and sold them to Seoul citizens at a 30% discount in the form of government subsidies.
Continued heavy rainfall
Rising production costs
According to reports, the main reason for the "kimchi crisis" in South Korea is "natural disasters".
Since the beginning of this year, Korea's weather has been very unusual, very cold in the spring and extremely hot in the summer, and in September, when the cabbage harvesting season is underway, it suffered extreme weather such as typhoons and heavy rainfall, resulting in a significant reduction in cabbage production. While Korea produced 250,000 tons of cabbage in previous years, this year's output is expected to be only 150,000 tons, a sharp drop of 40%. The problem was further exacerbated by the typhoons that followed the heavy rains.
Analysts say another reason for the rise in cabbage prices lies in the rising cost of agricultural production in South Korea, which has led to the sharpest production cuts in 20 years for South Korean vegetable products, with prices of lettuce, pumpkin and other vegetables having risen by more than 200 percent since October last year, while South Korea's inflation rate reached a 17-month high in September this year.
political shockwave
Lee Myung-bak mocked
A kimchi crisis also inevitably sends political shockwaves.
In the midst of this crisis, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak ordered the presidential palace to abandon the use of expensive Korean cabbage in the making of kimchi in favor of cheaper European cabbage. The move sparked a lot of resentment and ridicule from the South Korean public.
Some Korean netizens claimed that foreign cabbage is only a little cheaper than Chinese cabbage, suggesting that the president's statement shows that he does not sympathize with the suffering of the people and does not understand the feelings of the working class. "What the president said is reminiscent of what former French Queen Antoinette said to the starving people, 'Let them eat cake.'" One netizen scoffed.
However, in recent days, Korean cabbage prices have been on a downward trend. A Korean government official said that after the surge in cabbage prices, there has been a big increase in the number of farmers planting overwintering cabbages, and it is expected that the price of cabbages will drop sharply after a large number of overwintering cabbages hit the market around December.