Kimchi is actually starting to pop up in surprising places away from city centers (my rural grocery store has some) but it sits around and by the time I got some, it was... not fresh.
Sushi has the benefit of needing to be consumed fresh, except for fake crab which freezes well enough that you can find "sushi" at quite a few out of the way gas stations as well.
Having access to an asian grocery store with fresh bean sprouts, kimchi, freshly made kimbap, good masala blends, all the herbs and so forth is probably the only thing I miss about living in a bigger city.
I guess it could be good in a soup, but personally if it doesn't have at least some crunch I don't care for it. I had a bad experience with kimchi that went off and couldn't even taste any for a year without gagging as a result.
That said, rural folk in this part of the country are more likely to appreciate a fresh kimchi than they would soft stuff; the same goes for sauerkraut (bagged vs canned).
Sushi has the benefit of needing to be consumed fresh, except for fake crab which freezes well enough that you can find "sushi" at quite a few out of the way gas stations as well.
Having access to an asian grocery store with fresh bean sprouts, kimchi, freshly made kimbap, good masala blends, all the herbs and so forth is probably the only thing I miss about living in a bigger city.