Director Kim Jae-hwan, who exposed the abuse of power allegations against Baek Jong-won of The Born Korea, has now raised controversy over the origin of 'sliced pork belly'.
On the 23rd, Director Kim Jae-hwan, a former member of MBC's cultural department, released a video titled "Is 'Pesticide Chef' a malicious complainant?" on the YouTube channel 'Studio Ojaena'.
Director Kim stated, "The first time I became interested in Baek Jong-won was when I saw him blatantly scamming on the KBS2 entertainment program 'The Joy of Conversation'. He claimed to have developed sliced pork belly first. If you check the patent office website, Baek Jong-won registered the trademark for sliced pork belly for the first time in August 1996. However, he said on the show that he developed it," he said.
Director Kim continued, "(Baek Jong-won) said he accidentally made it by putting ham into a meat slicer while trying to save money on purchasing one in 1993. The public knows this is a lie," and added, "That food was already known as sliced pork belly in Busan. The first time I ate it was in 1992, before I went to the military after graduating from college."
He further stated, "I definitely ate the same type of sliced pork belly in Busan. It was cheap. 'It's not like we're trying to revive memories from the Japanese colonial period; how can he claim to have developed food that was sold all over the country in the early 1990s? It's really funny,' and I just forgot about it."
Director Kim also mentioned Baek Jong-won's appearance on MBC's cultural program 'Questions', saying, "He puts on a one-man show that severely insults the franchise owners of his company. Baek Jong-won said, 'Even the same ramen tastes different depending on who cooks it.' It's the franchise owner's job to maintain consistent taste. But he blames all the store owners. He never admits his mistakes."
He continued, "Except for the eight branches of Yeon-don Volcatus that raised issues, he said, 'The other store owners are thrilled.' It was a shocking statement. It's a cruel story that one cannot say if they have any compassion for humans," and pointed out, "He indiscriminately recruited franchisees, and nearly 50 stores closed down in a short period. All those families are suffering economically."
He emphasized, "It's a KOSPI-listed company with a market capitalization of 400 billion won, yet a user from the DC Inside community found 72 subjects to report just by looking at Baek Jong-won TV and local government videos. There are currently 14 cases under police investigation. This number will increase. We can see how poorly he has managed his business all this time."
Previously, Director Kim Jae-hwan raised allegations of 'broadcast abuse' claiming that Baek Jong-won interfered with broadcast production. Director Kim claimed that after Baek Jong-won gained popularity from the MBC entertainment show 'My Little Television' aired in 2015, "Baek Jong-won removed people he didn't like from the show, and the PD apologized to the cast on his behalf." He also claimed, "Baek Jong-won blocked Kim Ho-joong, a contestant from TV Chosun's 'Mr. Trot', from appearing on SBS."
In relation to this, a representative from The Born Korea stated, "We are in the process of considering legal action against the YouTube channel 'Studio Ojaena' and Director Kim Jae-hwan."
