Just as many European nations in the nineteenth century, East Asian countries claim and appropriate cultural items as their own, and this phenomenon of cultural appropriation often causes national disputes as the origins of the cultures are not known due to their entangled history, geographical proximity, and even climate similarity. This research critically examines the roles of cultural institutions such as the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List and food museums amidst international cultural conflicts. The study explores how and why nations appropriate culture. It demonstrates that UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage List and food museums often exacerbate controversial debates about cultural origins, contributing to international conflicts rather than fostering peace, which contradicts their intended purpose. The authors find that cultural institutions create disputes in three ways. First, the current listing system, or how museums display cultural items, is too focused on the nation or a state rather than a broader region. Second, cultural institutions try to authenticate cultural items when the origin is unclear. Third, UNESCO and museums often select cultural items that need not be safeguarded or urgently protected. As a result, these institutions create a false urgency to preserve food items instead of enjoying them peacefully. Thus, the authors argue that cultural institutions can contribute to more conflict than peace and call for re-evaluating current listing practices and cultural promotion efforts to better support peacebuilding.