Theborn Korea CEO and broadcaster Paik Jong-won met with a PD who raised allegations of abuse of power and conveyed his feelings of injustice.
On the 8th, a video titled "4 hours 30 minutes, did I talk alone with CEO Paik Jong-won?" was uploaded.
That day, former MBC PD Kim Jae-hwan headed to the airport to meet Paik Jong-won, who had returned from France after filming tvN's 'Business Genius Paik Sang-jang 3'. He introduced himself by saying, "I am Kim Jae-hwan, director of True Culinary Show," and upon hearing this, Paik Jong-won expressed his disappointment by saying, "Hello. But why are you making things difficult for me? Do you have some kind of karma with me? Why are you doing this? I really liked 'True Culinary Show.'"
He appealed, "I also have a lot of grievances. But haven't I remained quiet until now?" Kim Jae-hwan pointed out, "How much more unjust are the franchise owners? Things like hygiene for the 'Grocery Restaurant' and those people are really harshly creating villains; isn't this problematic?"
In response, Paik Jong-won said, "You shouldn't say that. I have never been harsh to the owners of 'Grocery Restaurant' personally," and clarified, "It's about clearly stating what's wrong as wrong."
Afterward, Kim Jae-hwan turned off all cameras and microphones and stopped filming, but he recorded the conversation with Paik Jong-won through a recording device he had. He said, "I forgot. I should have informed CEO Paik that I had brought the recorder in my pocket and in various parts of my clothes. It was clearly my mistake," and he shared parts of the recorded conversation with Paik Jong-won.
Paik Jong-won said, "I have lived genuinely until now. Just consider this,"
"Give me your phone number, director. It can be tomorrow. But without the camera," he requested a one-on-one meeting. Kim Jae-hwan declined, saying, "I have to go to church tomorrow," and "I want to postpone meeting privately," but Paik Jong-won responded, "Isn't this not private?" and added, "Let's meet and start from the beginning. I will call you tomorrow."
Later, Kim Jae-hwan met with Paik Jong-won and they talked for over 4 hours and 30 minutes, stating, "There are very different parts in our thoughts, so we discussed each other's ideas and clashed, and I aimed to clarify some parts where I was misunderstood and listened. I will reflect on that."
Earlier, Kim Jae-hwan had claimed Paik Jong-won's 'abuse of power' on his YouTube channel. Meanwhile, on the 6th, Paik Jong-won posted an apology video on his YouTube channel, stating, "I am fully aware of the concerns about balancing broadcasting activities as the head of a listed corporation, as well as the recent terrifying allegations of 'broadcast abuse of power.' This is also my fault. I take the opinions of critics very seriously. If my words or actions have hurt anyone in the process of creating good broadcasting content, it is my responsibility and negligence. Having received excessive love, I should have been more humble. I bow my head in apology."
He added, "From now on, I will suspend all broadcasting activities except for the currently filming program. Now, as a corporate figure rather than a broadcaster, I will fully focus all my passion and strength on the growth of Theborn Korea and the development of our franchise owners. I will do my best to restore the company's trust and further expand into the global market."
[Photo] OSEN DB, Studio Ojaena
[OSEN]