Several years back, I persuaded the owner and a "little old lady" in the kitchen in our local Korean eatery to give me a quick 'course' in making kimchi (basic, Napa cabbage, to serve young or old - the kimchi, not the eaters thereof). It was time well spent, and in all honesty on the rare occasions i've made the effort (and had the time), the home-made product is far better than most of the "canned' (bottled) store-boughts, and certainly as good as many of the "Cryovac"-packed offereings of gourmet or Korean groceries.

Smell? I don't know. I only visited Korea once long ago (arriving by sea), and the smell I recall had more to do with "Night Soil" than Kimchi.