Korean cuisine chef Im Seong-keun, who halted broadcasting activities after past offenses such as drunk driving came to light, has resumed activity on YouTube.
On the 18th, a video titled "We prepared this because New Year's dishes might feel greasy" was posted on the YouTube channel 'Im Seong-keun ImjjangTV.' In the 2-minute, 14-second video, Im Seong-keun introduced a spicy stir-fried ramen recipe to whet the appetite after the Lunar New Year holiday.
Im Seong-keun is a Korean cuisine chef with 40 years of experience who became known by winning "Korean Food War Season 3" in 2015. Since then, he has appeared on "Korean Food War: Masters Side Story" and "Black and White Chef: Culinary Class Wars 2," raising his public profile. He has also appeared on the variety show "You Quiz on the Block."
He focused only on explaining the cooking, offering no separate apology or explanation about the controversy surrounding him. It came about a month after he posted a recipe video on the 13th reinterpreting "Dubai jjondeuk cookie."
Last month, through his YouTube channel, he admitted to a past record of drunk driving, drawing scrutiny. He said he was caught three times for drunk driving from about 10 years ago to 5–6 years ago, but it was later confirmed that he was punished for drunk driving a total of four times in 1999, 2009, 2017, and 2020.
In 1998, he was reportedly caught again for drunk driving the following year while under a sentence of eight months in prison suspended for two years and a fine of 300,000 won for violating the Road Traffic Act. It also became known that he had previously received a fine for an assault case, prompting criticism that he is a "six-time offender."
As the controversy grew, he apologized, saying, "It was clearly wrong, and I will accept any criticism," and announced a suspension of broadcasting activities on the 21st of last month. The variety programs he was scheduled to appear on were canceled from the lineup or his segments were deleted.
However, the Korean restaurant being prepared in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, is proceeding with its opening as planned. Regarding rumors of a canceled opening, he said, "That is not true," adding, "We are preparing with the goal of opening between late February and March." He continued, "I am focusing on preparing the restaurant, my main job," and said, "We will do our best so you can visit without burden and enjoy a warm meal."