What Is Kimjang? Inside Korea’s Tradition of Making Kimchi Together
Kimchi may be one of Korea's most famous foods.
But there is another Korean word that international visitors may know much less about:
Kimjang (김장).
Kimjang is the Korean tradition of preparing and sharing large quantities of kimchi, traditionally in late autumn before winter arrives.
But describing kimjang simply as "making kimchi" misses something important.
For generations, families, relatives and neighbors gathered together to prepare enough kimchi for the colder months. They worked together, shared food, exchanged recipes and divided the finished kimchi among households.
That social tradition is so important that "Kimjang, making and sharing kimchi in the Republic of Korea" was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013.
And although Korean life has changed dramatically, kimjang has not completely disappeared.
Children can still experience it today.
These photos show one small example.
1. Kimjang Is More Than Making Kimchi
If you search for kimchi online, you will find countless recipes.
Napa cabbage.
Radish.
Red pepper powder.
Garlic.
Ginger.
Salt.
Fermented seafood.
Those ingredients are certainly part of the story.
But kimchi and kimjang are not exactly the same thing.
Kimchi is the food.
Kimjang is the culture of preparing and sharing it together.
UNESCO describes kimchi as an essential part of Korean meals and emphasizes that the collective practice of kimjang strengthens family cooperation and reinforces a sense of Korean identity.
That distinction helps explain why Koreans talk about "kimjang season" rather than simply saying they are making some kimchi.
It is an event.
2. Why Did Koreans Make So Much Kimchi at Once?
Traditionally, kimjang took place in late autumn or early winter.
There was a practical reason.
Before modern refrigeration and year-round food distribution, Korean families needed preserved vegetables to help carry them through the cold winter.
So households prepared large quantities of kimchi when temperatures became cool enough for longer storage.
Napa cabbage and radish were prepared with seasonings such as red pepper powder, garlic, ginger and fermented seafood sauces.
And because making enough kimchi for an entire household required a lot of work, people did it together.
Imagine preparing dozens — sometimes far more — heads of cabbage in one day.
One person washes.
Another salts.
Someone prepares the seasoning.
Others mix and pack the vegetables.
Kimjang naturally became a cooperative activity.
3. A Korean Child Experiences Kimjang
This is where the tradition becomes more interesting.
Kimjang was never preserved only through books.
Children learned by watching and participating.
They watched parents and grandparents prepare ingredients.
They helped with simple jobs.
They tasted the food.
And eventually they learned how their own family made kimchi.
UNESCO specifically recognizes this intergenerational transmission as an important part of kimjang culture. The tradition has been passed down through everyday family life, while reinforcing identity, belonging and sharing.
The child in these photographs is participating in a kimjang experience.
It may look like a simple cooking activity.
But culturally, there is something deeper happening.
A new generation is encountering an old Korean tradition by doing it.
4. Kimjang Begins Before the Red Seasoning
People often imagine kimchi-making as the moment when cabbage is covered in bright red seasoning.
But a lot happens before that.
Ingredients need to be washed, trimmed, cut and prepared.
Radish is especially important in Korean kimchi culture.
It can become kimchi itself — such as kkakdugi, the familiar cubed radish kimchi — or be incorporated into seasoning mixtures for other types of kimchi.
For a child, even something as simple as preparing pieces of radish can turn food into an experience.
Instead of seeing kimchi only when it arrives on the dinner table, the child begins to understand:
Someone made this.
That small realization matters.
5. Learning With Your Hands
There is a Korean cultural lesson hidden in this photograph.
Many traditions survive because somebody explains them.
Others survive because people repeat them together.
Kimjang belongs strongly to the second category.
You learn how salty something should be.
You learn how vegetables feel after salting.
You learn how much seasoning your family prefers.
You watch what older family members do.
Then, one day, you are the person showing someone younger.
That is how a food tradition can become cultural memory.
UNESCO's recognition of kimjang focuses not only on the finished food but also on the knowledge, cooperation and sense of community transmitted through the practice.
6. Why Was Sharing So Important?
The second half of kimjang is easy to overlook.
It is not only making kimchi.
It is making and sharing kimchi.
Traditionally, relatives and neighbors helped one another during kimjang.
When the work was finished, households could exchange kimchi or share it with people around them.
This was particularly meaningful in older Korean village communities, where cooperation was an important part of everyday life.
The practice strengthened social ties and created a culture of mutual support.
Korea's official cultural information describes kimjang as a tradition that embodies community cooperation and sharing, rather than simply food preparation.
This is one reason UNESCO's official English title is:
"Kimjang, making and sharing kimchi in the Republic of Korea."
The word sharing is essential.
7. Every Family's Kimchi Can Taste Different
There is no single universal kimjang recipe.
Kimchi varies according to:
- region
- family tradition
- available ingredients
- climate
- personal taste
Some families prefer stronger fermented seafood flavors.
Some use more garlic.
Some make their kimchi spicier.
Coastal regions may use ingredients differently from inland areas.
And individual households develop their own preferences over generations.
This is one reason asking:
"What does authentic kimchi taste like?"
does not have one simple answer.
Authentic Korean kimchi can taste many different ways.
The diversity is part of the tradition.
8. How Did Koreans Store Kimchi Before Refrigerators?
Today, Korea is famous for something else related to kimchi:
the kimchi refrigerator.
Many Korean households have refrigerators specifically designed to store fermented foods such as kimchi at controlled temperatures.
But kimjang is much older than refrigerators.
Traditionally, kimchi was stored in large earthenware containers known as onggi (옹기).
In colder seasons, these containers could be placed outdoors or partially buried in the ground to help maintain suitable storage conditions.
UNESCO's documentation of kimjang even includes historical images of kimchi jars being buried for winter storage.
Modern technology changed the container.
The desire to preserve kimchi through winter remained.
9. Does Every Korean Family Still Do Kimjang?
No.
Modern Korea is very different from the rural communities in which large-scale family kimjang developed.
Koreans can now buy high-quality packaged kimchi almost anywhere:
supermarkets, traditional markets, online stores and even convenience-oriented delivery services.
Families are smaller.
Many people live in apartments.
Work schedules are busy.
Preparing large quantities of kimchi requires time, space and physical effort.
As a result, some households buy kimchi instead of making it themselves, while others receive homemade kimchi from parents or relatives.
Korea's official cultural information notes that large-scale kimjang has declined with changes such as apartment living and smaller households, while families, communities and organizations continue to preserve and adapt the tradition.
So kimjang has changed.
But it has not vanished.
10. Kimjang Still Appears in Modern Korean Life
Today you may encounter kimjang in several forms.
Families still gather to make kimchi.
Local governments organize community kimjang events.
Schools and cultural centers offer kimchi-making experiences.
Companies and volunteer organizations sometimes prepare kimchi to donate to people in need.
Korean cultural centers overseas also organize kimjang workshops.
The scale and setting may be different from the past, but the central idea remains surprisingly similar:
make food together and share it.
That continuity is one reason kimjang remains relevant in a highly modernized Korea.
11. Why UNESCO Recognized Kimjang
This is worth understanding correctly.
UNESCO did not recognize kimjang simply because kimchi tastes good.
And the recognition was not an award declaring kimchi "the world's best food."
Kimjang was inscribed because the practice carries cultural knowledge and social meaning.
UNESCO highlighted how kimjang:
is transmitted across generations
strengthens cooperation within families
encourages sharing among neighbors
creates a sense of identity and belonging
and connects food practices with communities and nature.
That distinction is important.
The heritage is not just something inside a jar.
It is what people do together around the jar.
12. Kimchi Is Food. Kimjang Is a Story About Korea.
This may be the easiest way for an international visitor to understand the difference.
Kimchi tells you something about Korean food.
Kimjang tells you something about Korean society.
It reflects a time when preparing for winter required planning and cooperation.
It shows how food knowledge moved from one generation to another.
It illustrates the importance of sharing within families and communities.
And today, it shows how traditions can survive even when the society around them changes dramatically.
A Small Pair of Hands, a Much Older Tradition
Looking at a child making kimchi may seem like a simple, cheerful scene.
But think about what that scene represents.
Koreans have prepared fermented vegetables for generations.
Families developed their own methods.
Grandparents taught parents.
Parents taught children.
Neighbors helped neighbors.
The containers changed.
The kitchens changed.
The cities changed.
Korea itself changed enormously.
Yet a child can still put on an apron and gloves, prepare vegetables and discover what kimjang means.
That is how cultural traditions stay alive.
Not because they remain frozen in the past.
But because each generation finds a way to experience them again.
And perhaps that is the most interesting thing about kimjang.
It is not simply an old Korean tradition.
It is still happening.
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This article explains kimjang as a Korean cultural tradition rather than providing a step-by-step kimchi recipe. Cultural information was checked against UNESCO and official Korean cultural sources. The photographs in this article are original photos from a kimjang experience.
UNESCO — Kimjang, making and sharing kimchi in the Republic of Korea
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