NOTHING can dispute that the hanbok is Korea’s traditional culture, said a senior official at Cheong Wa Dae (Blue House) today, following anger after a performer wore the outfit at the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Beijing, China.

People representing China’s 56 ethnic groups carried the Chinese flag into the Bird’s Nest stadium during the event on Friday, with one woman dressed in a hanbok, apparently representing ethnic Koreans.

But this depiction of a hanbok-clad person as a minority group in the country angered South Koreans, who claimed that China is trying to promote the outfit as its own.

“The whole world recognises that hanbok is Korea’s traditional culture for clothing,” said the senior presidential official, as quoted by Yonhap.

“There is no room for argument about it.”

Relevant ministries are monitoring the issue, he added.

China’s parading of the hanbok comes as South Koreans are already upset after Chinese media outlets claimed that kimchi, Korea’s traditional food, is Chinese.

Besides hanbok and kimchi, both countries have long been at odds over China’s push to include two ancient Korean kingdoms – Balhae and Koguryo – in its own history.

Balhae was a Korean kingdom that occupied southern parts of Manchuria in China, the maritime province of Russia and the northern part of the Korean peninsula from the late 17th century to the early 10th century.

Beijing has angered Seoul by asserting that Balhae and its predecessor, Koguryo, are its vassal states. – Bernama, February 7, 2022.