白菜涨价致韩国遭遇泡菜危机

入秋以来，韩国国内白菜价格不断飙升，致使泡菜制作成本随之攀升。很多餐馆开始减少泡菜供应量，并且在泡菜续盘时收费；民众则抱怨泡菜价格过高，影响了他们日常的饮食。今年韩国气候十分异常，台风、暴雨接连造访，导致白菜产量锐减。据当地报纸报道，韩国国内的白菜价格8月份为2480韩元（合2.1美元）5斤，到9月29日已上涨至1.15万韩元（合10.3美元）5斤。对此，韩国政府已宣布临时取消白菜和萝卜的进口关税，以抑制国内价格的不断上涨，总统府也在总统李明博的要求下开始改用卷心菜腌制泡菜。

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.