Kimchi product in Japan with Korean slang in its name sparks controversy

Gaejonmat Kimchi, a kimchi product sold in Japan, drew attention online for using Korean slang in its name.

Gaejonmat Kimchi sold in Japan [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Gaejonmat Kimchi, a kimchi product sold in Japan, drew attention online for using Korean slang in its name.

Seo Kyoung-Duk, an activist and professor, shared a picture of the product on Facebook Thursday, criticizing the excessive use of slang.

Gaejonmat is a slang word used to describe good food, short for gaejonna mashita, which translates as "very delicious."

Gae, or dog in Korean, is used as a prefix when emphasizing the meaning of a word, while jonna means very.

Seo asked Koreans to reflect on their own language use instead of blaming the Japanese producer.

"We should question and reflect on ourselves first," Seo said.

Seo said in the post that he received numerous reports of misused Korean words and phrases worldwide, marking Hangul Day, a national holiday celebrating the invention and proclamation of the Korean alphabet.

"Recently, the product's name sparked a debate in Japan on social media," he added.

According to Seo, opinions were split on social media in Japan, with some not minding the name as it uses an expression widely used among Koreans, while others find it inappropriate.

Tenmasa Matsushita, the product's manufacturer, apologized on Monday in a post on X, formerly Twitter, and said it will change the product's name.

The product was a joint project between the company and Yang Ji-hoon, a Korean influencer.

Yang also apologized for the naming of the product in an Instagram post.

"While expressing through slang may be more effective than common terms, [time-place-occasion] should be considered as well," Seo said.

"This type of happening abroad will reoccur if [Koreans] don't use [the language] with caution."

BY KIM EUN-BIN, KIM JI YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]