![This still from “Everybody Kimchi” reveals the messy aftermath of the Kimchi Slap. [Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation]](http://www.jstudentboard.com/reporter/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/JSR_Aug16_KimchiSlap.jpg)
One scene during an episode of the MBC drama “Everybody, Kimchi” has gone viral and birthed the “Kimchi Slap” meme. Many Internet fans could not hide their amusement upon seeing this new, surprising concept.
On the July 21st episode, a woman and man are having a heated argument. To express her disdain, the woman grabs a handful of kimchi to slap him across the face. After the immense attention, show producer Heung Dong Kim stated the scene was indeed scripted. Although the two actors seem bewildered, they completed the scene in one take.
Soon after the show aired, numerous posts about the scene began appearing on social networking sites such as Facebook and Tumblr. Content creators also indulged in their own variations of kimchi slap humor; for example, Los Angeles-based rapper Dumbfoundead parodied the scene on his Vine account by slapping his friend with kimchi.
Casey Lee, a junior at West Ranch High School, was one of the many Facebook users to share this video online.
According to Lee, who was interviewed by JSR, “I wouldn’t say it was exactly “original” but it was definitely different from what I’m used to seeing in Korean dramas. I’m looking forward to future South Korean drama scenes as dramatic and crazy as this one.”
However, some expressed a negative perspective. Kotaku blog author Brian Ashcroft wrote, “It looks painful…and messy…and all over the floor too. Eating kimchi is very cool. Slapping people with it? Not so much.”
Several Tumblr users also left comments like, “Such a waste of food” or “Way too dramatic.”
Though reactions to the Kimchi Slap have been mixed, it has still marked the history of South Korean dramas.
