I did a 13 month tour and never tasted kimchi. As bad as it smelled, I wouldn’t eat it.
I did two year long tours. Mogo kimchee, mashee sayo!!
It took me about 15 months to try the foul smelling stuff. Was beyond famished one night waiting for food to arrive so I tried it. Loved it since the first bite.
Never learned Korean spelling but if I barked this out in my broken Korean it produced amazing results: "Mekchu Nege!" And have you ever had anything better than Kalbi?
As far as the thread and age lines, think what heavy smokers look like in the States. Then consider the amount of cigs consumed over there. Ought to be enough proof for Mr. Kim's theory right there.