한류의 영향을 고려한 한·중·일 김치 무역패턴의 분석

Abstract

Kimchi accounts for the largest export among fresh foods in Korea. Despite its gaining popularity as one of the world’s healthiest foods, most Kimchi trade is occurring between Korea, China and Japan. Trade data shows Japan is the largest importer. The home of Kimchi, Korea surprisingly became a net importer since 2006 while China arose as a dominant exporter. Estimating a gravity model has identified the determinants of Kimchi trade between these countries specified by per capita incomes, export prices, domestic production and prices, and other policy variables. Explicit consideration of export of cultural contents as a proxy for the Korean wave has proved a statistically significant and positive contribution toward Kimchi exports in Japanese markets. This result sheds light on the possibility of further growth of Kimchi exports in tandem with development of the Korean wave especially in Asia.