As controversy arose over the inadequate lunch boxes provided at the Disabled Citizens Sports Festival, the official YouTube operator of Chungju City, 'Chungju Man' (Kim Seon-tae, Chungju City official), issued an apology.
On the 29th, a video titled 'I Would Like to Say' was released on the official YouTube channel of Chungju City. In the video, Chungju Man stated, "I heard there was a problem with the lunch boxes on the first day of the Disabled Citizens Sports Festival. I came to inform you about what happened with the lunch boxes."
The opening ceremony of the Disabled Citizens Sports Festival was held on the 24th at the Hoam Gymnasium in Chungju. With over 1,400 participants from various city and county teams, the lunch boxes provided to some teams were criticized for being inadequately prepared. The contents of the lunch boxes included only seasoned seaweed, green peppers, kimchi, and pickled perilla leaves. The fact that these inadequate lunch boxes were priced at 12,000 won per person drew even more criticism.
The company that supplied the lunch boxes, referred to as Company A, was reportedly introduced by the Chungju City Disabled Sports Association.
Chungju Man met with a representative from the Chungju City Disabled Sports Association. The representative explained, "The cost for each person for the tent (chairs, tables) was 3,000 won, and the meal was 9,000 won, totaling 12,000 won per person."
He continued, "During the pre-tasting, it was delicious. However, on the day of the event, due to preparing too much, the first 1,100 boxes included spicy chicken stew, but there was a shortage of the main ingredients for the subsequent 300 boxes."
In response, Chungju Man stated, "This is wrong," and asked, "How do we respond?" The representative replied, "The company says they will not charge for the tent. They are also adjusting the meal cost to 6,000 won," adding, "It seems like it’s not even worth 6,000 won, so we are in the process of adjusting it." He then apologized, saying, "We were negligent in our preparations. I am sorry for not taking care of the selection process. I apologize to the participating athletes."
At the end of the video, a statement was released saying, "Chungju City has immediately commenced an audit regarding this incident and will thoroughly investigate the selection process to ensure there are no doubts. We will take appropriate measures against the company, including compensation for damages. We will conduct thorough checks and management to prevent such incidents from happening again. I sincerely apologize once again to the athletes who were hurt."
[Kim So-yeon, Star Today Reporter]
