"Clearly Rat Droppings" vs. "Codium fragile in Kimchi"... Netizens Debate a 'Black Object' in Delivered Kimchi-Jjim [What Do You Think?]

[Financial News] A story about an unidentified black object found in rice while eating delivered kimchi-jjim has sparked a heated debate among netizens over whether it was rat droppings.
On the 28th, a post, photos and a video were uploaded to the social media platform Threads. The post asked what the object was, saying, "I ordered kimchi-jjim, and a black granule came out of the rice."
The released photos showed a small, oval-shaped black granule—smaller than a pinky fingernail—embedded among the white rice. In a video of Person A pressing the object with a skewer, the glossy granule could be seen being crushed.
Person A claimed, "It wasn't black rice, but when I pressed it, it was mushy like dog feces, which made me gag," adding, "I also found another foreign substance near the rolled omelet."
Person A said, "It looked exactly like the images I found through a portal search, so I immediately reported it to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety," adding, "I was told that it could take up to 15 days to receive the results of the ingredient analysis after the foreign substance was collected."
Netizens who heard the story were divided over the identity of the substance. Many suspected that it could be rat droppings, saying, "It is clearly rat droppings" and "Its size and shape are exactly like rat or hamster feces." Some also shared stories about finding similar foreign substances in delivered food in the past.
Others argued that it was unlikely to be rat droppings, considering the cooking process. One commenter noted, "If it had been rat feces, it would have dissolved and lost its shape in the cooking water," adding that "it could be seaweed such as Codium fragile, which is used in kimchi seasoning."
A counterargument followed: "Unlike human feces, rat droppings are hard, so they retain their shape even in high-temperature, moist conditions." The debate continues.

[email protected] Seong Min-seo Reporter