When will you make kimchi this year? "Later than usual in the central part, faster in the south."

[Anchor]
There are many people who are hesitant about how to make kimchi because the price of cabbage has risen significantly.

Considering the weather, it is better to start making kimchi a day or two later than usual in the central region and in the south earlier this year.

Reporter Kim Min-kyung's report.

[Reporter]
Our own tradition of making kimchi and storing it in preparation for the cold and long winter, 'Kimjang'.

In recognition of the value of Korean culture, it was listed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013.

Between late autumn and early winter, cabbage and radish are salted and aged by adding seasoning such as red pepper powder, garlic, and ginger, and the most important thing in kimjang is 'temperature'.

Usually, kimchi is best when the average daily temperature drops below 4℃ and the minimum temperature is kept below 0℃.

If the temperature is higher, kimchi cooks quickly, and if it is low, cabbage or radish freezes, making it difficult to taste it properly.

Then, when is the best time to make kimchi this year?

If you look at the average over the past 30 years, it was usually between Nov. 19 and Dec. 1 in the central part and from Dec. 4 to Jan. 9 in the southern part.

However, this year, the central part is expected to be later than usual and the southern part is expected to be faster.

Like autumn leaves, kimjang also starts earlier in the central region than in the south, because mild weather is expected to continue until mid-to-late November, and then colder than usual from December when the south starts kimjang.

[Lee Jae-jeong / Kweather Forecast Team Leader: Temperatures sometimes drop after mid-November, but they will be similar to or somewhat higher than usual, and in December, due to frequent cold waves, the appropriate timing for kimchi will be one to two days later than usual in the central part and one to three days earlier in the southern part.]

Chuncheon will be the fastest on Nov. 21, and Seoul will have the best time on Dec. 1, a day later than usual.

Daejeon is expected to be on December 2, Daegu on December 6, and Gwangju on December 8.

Yeosu and Busan, which have relatively high temperatures, are expected to be the right time to make kimchi on January 1 and 7 next year, respectively.

In the 1920s, the proper time for making kimchi in Seoul was November 21, but in the 2010s, it was delayed by about a week to November 27.

As the kimchi-making period is being delayed due to global warming, the day may come soon when we have to make kimchi in the middle of winter.

I'm YTN's Kim Min-kyung.