Warm Weather Sours Korea Kimchi Lovers

SEOUL —  Unusually warm winter weather has sabotaged South Korea’s kimchi, the spicy cabbage dish that goes with every meal. Hundreds of tons of winter kimchi, made in the autumn and stored outside in big earthenware pots, fermented too early and become inedibly sour.

“Kimchi is so important to Koreans that this is a disaster,” one Seoul housewife said.

A man who had to throw out his frothing winter supply complained that he now had to go out and buy fresh cabbage, at higher prices, and start making kimchi all over again.

So vital is kimchi to a Korean’s well-being that the government often steps in to regulate the price of its main ingredients--cabbage, radishes, garlic and red peppers.