Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Origin of Kimchi

Korean Central News Agency of DPRK via Korea News Service (KNS)

    Pyongyang, November 23 (KCNA) -- Housewives are now busy with preparing kimchi for the winter in Korea. It has been told that kimchi is a half-year food from olden times. Kimchi has a long history.
    Historical data including "Samguksagi" say that Koreans used to pickle vegetables from long before the days of Koguryo. Then they made kimchi only with radish and lettuce as they did not cultivate cabbage and pepper.
    It was called "chimchae" or "chimjang". Once Kims came into power in succession. They named it after their surname "Kim", thus calling it "kimchae". After then, kimchae was gradually called kimchi.
    It was from the middle of the 17th century when the Koreans started to raise cabbage and pepper that the method of making kimchi developed and its variety became richer.
    According to the then records, there were 34 kinds of kimchi at that time.
    The methods are diverse but it is common to pickle, put spices including pulverized red pepper and ferment for a while.
    In the 18th century, the sort of kimchi increased to more than 60. Famous was possam kimchi in Kaesong area, paek kimchi in Pyongyang and tongchimi in Jolla area.
    These years, scientists have developed lactic acid bacilli powder, fluid to culture lactic acid bacilli, fluorine antiseptice substance for kimchi so as to give a flavor to and keep kimchi for a long time.
    Kimchi with a long history has become a kind of food native to the Koreans and famous throughout the world.