Kingston celebrates International Kimchi Day
Communities are coming together to celebrate the borough’s Korean culture and heritage today, 22 November, as Kingston marks International Kimchi Day for the first time.
A series of community events have been taking place, including a Kimchi Festival at Kingston University organised by the Korean Restaurants and Supermarkets Association (KORSA). Visitors to the event last Saturday were treated to a taste of Korean culture with a Kimchi Making competition and Korean music performances. Today the Korean British Cultural Exchange is putting on an event at the Ancient Market House in Kingston town centre where people will see a Kimchi making demonstration and food tasting.
At the start of this year Kingston became the first place in Europe to declare 22 November as Kimchi Day, to celebrate the borough's large Korean community.
The borough has one of the largest expatriate communities of Koreans in Europe, particularly focused around the New Malden area, which is sometimes described as Koreatown.
The Kimchi Day celebrations follow His Majesty King Charles' visit to meet the borough's Korean Community in New Malden earlier this month, ahead of the President of Korea's upcoming state visit to the UK.
Leader of Kingston Council Andreas Kirsch said:
Joining the international Kimchi Day celebrations is a fitting way to mark the central role our Korean communities play in the cultural life of the borough. We are immensely proud of the rich diversity and multiculturalism of the Royal Borough of Kingston and recognise the fantastic contributions of communities from all over the world.
I’m proud that Kimchi Day will now become part of a well-established tradition of celebrating Kingston’s Korean and wider East and South East Asian heritage along with events such as the annual Kingston Korea Festival - which includes the Korean Harvest Festival and the Kimjang Festival.
Ahead of the Kimchi Day event at Kingston University's Town House, local chef Hyung Soo Yim, known as Chef Yim, explained the how to make the traditional Korean delicacy: