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Koreans are angered by a Chinese local government's decision to include bibimbap, a traditional Korean dish, in its cultural heritage list, viewing it as yet another attempt at cultural appropriation by Beijing.
This move has reignited criticism of China's repeated cultural claims, with many Koreans seeing it as part of a broader pattern of cultural encroachment by their neighbor.
According to a report earlier this week by Hankook Ilbo, the sister paper of The Korea Times, the government of China's northeastern Jilin Province included the cooking method for dolsot bibimbap, a variation of bibimbap served in a hot stone pot, on its list of regional cultural heritage in December 2021.
Bibimbap is a traditional Korean dish made of steamed rice mixed with vegetables, meat and "gochujang" (hot pepper paste).
The document released by the Jilin provincial government described the dish as a culinary technique developed by Joseonjok, an ethnic Korean minority in China, the report said. Several dolsot bibimbap franchises in the province have since been using the heritage designation as a promotional tool.
Following the report, online users expressed frustration over China's ongoing attempts to appropriate Korean culture.
"China keeps insisting that since the Joseonjok is one of China's minority groups, their cultural elements are part of Chinese culture. By that logic, the culture of Chinese immigrants living in Korea, such as qipao (a Chinese dress) and pandas, should also be considered part of Korean culture," read one comment on the Naver website.
Another user commented, "The Chinese people should really stop stealing our culture. They're going to claim that every Asian culture is theirs."
Some raised concerns about why the Korean government had been unaware of the issue for three years.
Seo Kyung-duk, a professor at Sungshin Women's University and an activist promoting Korean history and culture, urged the government to strongly respond to the issue.
The professor noted that Baidu, China's largest search engine, describes dolsot bibimbap as "a unique rice dish of Joseonjok, not only on the Korean Peninsula but also in the northeastern regions of China, such as Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning."
"They will continue to appropriate our culture under the pretext of Joseonjok in the future. It is urgent for the government to come up with countermeasures," he wrote on Facebook, Friday.
Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it has been urging the Chinese government to continue efforts to ensure that issues related to Korea's cultural identity do not negatively impact friendly ties between the two nations.
"We maintain a position that historical issues are significant matters related to our national identity and will respond firmly to China's attempts to distort history," a ministry official said.
The Korea Heritage Service, a government agency responsible for managing Korea's heritage, said it would introduce measures to enhance the competitiveness of the nation's cultural heritage on the international stage.
"If necessary, we will consider proactive steps, such as prioritizing the inscription of bibimbap on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list," the agency said in a statement, Thursday.
This isn't the first instance of China claiming Korean culture. Previous controversies have involved China asserting that hanbok, Korea's traditional attire, and kimchi — which it called "pao cai" — belong to its heritage.