North Korea leader Kim Jong-un has praised kimchi, a spicy and sour traditional side dish, as one of the world's five health foods, Pyongyang's state media said Friday.
Kim's compliment came during his inspection of the Ryugyong Pickle Factory, which has been built near Pyongyang to mass-produce kimchi made by fermenting vegetables -- usually cabbage -- with red chili, garlic, ginger, and other spices, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
The factory is capable of producing 4,200 tons a year, the agency said. "Kimchi is one of the most favored national dishes and it is widely recognized as one of the world's five health foods," Kim was quoted as saying.
UNESCO, the cultural wing of the United Nations, said in late 2015 that the process of making kimchi is being considered to receive Intangible Cultural Heritage status awarded to practices and arts which are especially important to world heritage and cultural diversity.
Kimchi is eaten across the Korean peninsula, but North Korean kimchi is less red and less spicy than its southern cousin, due to the lack of chillies available in the communist North which used to hand out factory-manufactured kimchi as one of the key rationed goods.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com