ENTERTAINMENT
South Korean Professor Criticizes Chinese Show for Copying Netflix's 'Chef's Table' and Mislabeling Kimchi
On the 28th, Professor Seo took to his social media to address the controversy surrounding the Chinese show 'Yi Pan Feng Shen', which has been available on Tencent Video, an OTT platform operated by Chinese company Tencent, since the 17th.
Professor Seo stated, "A cooking competition show in China that seems to have copied Netflix's 'Chef's Table' has sparked controversy." He continued, "'Yi Pan Feng Shen' divides chefs into black and white classes for competition, a structure similar to 'Chef's Table'. This has led to accusations of imitation among Chinese netizens."
He added, "Netflix has confirmed that they have not sold the rights to this format in China. This is yet another example highlighting China's content plagiarism issues."
Professor Seo's concerns did not stop there. He pointed out that the show labeled kimchi as 'pao cai', saying, "I learned through numerous reports that during a scene where kimchi was being made, it was labeled as 'pao cai' instead of 'kimchi'. Pao cai is a pickled vegetable dish from China's Sichuan province, entirely different from kimchi."
He further expressed concern, stating, "China has been perpetuating the 'kimchi project', claiming kimchi originated in their country for years. Now, they are using media, social networks, and even OTT platforms to distort kimchi."
He emphasized, "We should use this situation to expose China's counterfeit culture to the world and seize the opportunity to correctly promote Korean kimchi."
In the past, Professor Seo has also pointed out instances where kimchi was mistranslated as 'pao cai' in some Netflix content, actively requesting corrections. He has consistently maintained a critical stance on issues like illegal viewing and unauthorized use of likenesses in Chinese content.
The controversial 'Yi Pan Feng Shen' features 16 famous chefs and 84 new chefs competing, with uniform concepts, stage design, and filming techniques that are said to resemble Netflix's original 'Chef's Table: Culinary Class Warfare'.
