中國網站品牌欄目（頻道）
入秋以來，韓國國內白菜價格不斷飆升，致使泡菜制作成本隨之攀升。很多餐館開始減少泡菜供應量，并且在泡菜續盤時收費；民眾則抱怨泡菜價格過高，影響了他們日常的飲食。今年韓國氣候十分異常，臺風、暴雨接連造訪，導致白菜產量銳減。據當地報紙報道，韓國國內的白菜價格8月份為2480韓元（合2.1美元）5斤，到9月29日已上漲至1.15萬韓元（合10.3美元）5斤。對此，韓國政府已宣布臨時取消白菜和蘿卜的進口關稅，以抑制國內價格的不斷上漲，總統府也在總統李明博的要求下開始改用卷心菜腌制泡菜。
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Freak weather this year has sent the price of kimchi’s basic ingredient Chinese cabbage soaring, leaving many consumers grumbling about the rising cost of the beloved side dish. |
Exports are robust and unemployment is falling but South Koreans are still grappling with a threat to their wellbeing -- a kimchi crisis.
Freak weather this year has sent the price of kimchi’s basic ingredient Chinese cabbage soaring, leaving many consumers grumbling about the rising cost of the beloved side dish.
Grandmother Lee Seong-Ryuh had made her family’s kimchi for decades until she stopped doing so a few days ago, Friday's JoongAng Daily reported.
"I was waiting for the outrageous price of cabbage to fall but it kept rising instead," she told the paper.
"I had no choice but to buy pre-packaged kimchi (made before the price rise), which is a far better bargain right now."
The paper said Chinese cabbage has risen in price from 2,480 won (2.10 dollars) per 2.5 kilograms on August 25 to 11,500 won on September 29.
Company cafeterias have cut down on the amount they offer workers and some restaurants charge for kimchi refills.
Even the presidential Blue House has been hit. President Lee Myung-Bak has switched from kimchi made from Chinese cabbages to European cabbages, Yonhap news agency reported.
"Chinese cabbage is grown mostly in mountainous regions and needs steady, cool weather to grow well," Yoon Young-Chul of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation told JoongAng.
"This year’s weather, which constantly alternated between rain and heat, has ruined lots of crops."
The food ministry said Friday it would temporarily remove its tariffs on cabbage and radish imports to try to curb soaring prices.
Kimchi, a spicy mixture of pickled cabbage, radish and cucumbers, has its own museum in Seoul and an annual festival. It was even blasted into space with the country's first astronaut in 2008.
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(Agencies)
（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）
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