Seo Hyo-rim Is Taking Her Late Mother-in-Law Kim Sumi's Kimchi Legacy Global

Seo Hyo-rim posted an apron selfie on social media last week holding a head of cabbage and a daikon radish, caption reading: "Kim Sumi kimchi. Seo Hyo-rim kimchi." The plan, she wrote, is to "go out into the world with napa cabbage and radish", and she means that literally.

The actress has quietly founded a food company called Sumi House and registered herself as its CEO. The debut product is set for an August launch: a premium kimchi line named Kim Sumi 1949 Elegance Kimchi, the year referencing the late actress's birth year. It's a deliberate act of preservation, the recipe, the brand name, the whole thing built around keeping Kim Sumi's culinary identity alive.

Kim Sumi, one of Korea's most recognized actress-chefs, died in October 2024. She was known as much for her cooking as for her screen work, and her kimchi in particular had a devoted following. Seo Hyo-rim, who married Kim Sumi's son Jung Myung-ho in 2019, had spoken publicly about their unusually close bond, the two shared multiple TV appearances and were frequently described as closer than most mothers and daughters-in-law. Seo lost her father-in-law roughly a year and a half after Kim Sumi's passing, a second grief that came fast.

In an earlier post, Seo wrote that she would "work to carry on the flavors that mom's hands made" and that she would wear the description "Kim Sumi's daughter-in-law" as a point of pride going forward. The phrasing matters: she's not distancing herself from the association or building a separate identity. The branding is the tribute.

She also posted a quieter photo around the same time, her and Jung Myung-ho on a sofa, arms around each other's shoulders, smiling. The caption: "Thank you for taking the photo." Small detail, but it landed. The couple has a young daughter.

The response to the Sumi House announcement has been warm, with fans and followers directing support toward the project. Whether a grief-backed kimchi startup can actually crack international markets is a different question, but Seo Hyo-rim is moving like someone who isn't asking permission first.