Actor Lee Jang-woo explained the controversy over unpaid food ingredient payments at the gukbap restaurant he operates, 'Hoseokchon'.
On the 17th, Lee Jang-woo's agency HUNUS Entertainment issued an official statement addressing the recently raised 'unpaid receivables controversy.'
HUNUS said, "Actor Lee Jang-woo is a shareholder in and participates in the operation of Hoseokchon. Hoseokchon has already paid the full delivery amount to Mujin Co., Ltd., the contractual transaction partner, and the problem occurred afterward when Mujin failed to pay company A the amount due," explaining that it was merely a problem between vendors and companies and unrelated to the gukbap restaurant.
They continued, "There is no direct contractual relationship between company A and Hoseokchon or actor Lee Jang-woo, and reports suggesting that actor Lee Jang-woo did not pay the amount due are not true," adding, "The claim in some reports that 'Mujin was the owner of Hoseokchon' is also not true, and Mujin has never held equity in Hoseokchon. Actor Lee Jang-woo has no connection with Mujin either," drawing a clear line.
HUNUS also released all payment details. However, they added, "We feel a moral responsibility for not sufficiently checking whether the intermediary company fulfilled its obligations within such a transaction structure."
Regarding the supplier's attempts to contact them via social media, they explained, "Actor Lee Jang-woo's account receives dozens of messages a day, and messages from accounts he does not follow are sorted into a separate 'message requests' folder, making immediate review difficult. It is true that those messages were not checked in a timely manner, but we want to make clear that they were not deliberately avoided or ignored."
Meanwhile, Dispatch reported that the soondae soup restaurant operated by Lee Jang-woo has not paid 40 million won for pig byproducts for eight months. According to the report, Mr. A, who runs a livestock product distribution company in Cheonan, claimed that since November 2023 he supplied pig heads, intestines and other byproducts to the soondae soup restaurant operated by Lee Jang-woo but was not paid on time. The unpaid receivables grew to as much as 64 million won, and currently about more than 40 million won remains overdue.
Below is the full official statement from HUNUS Entertainment.
Hello, this is HUNUS Entertainment.
We would like to address the recently reported 'Hoseokchon unpaid receivables' controversy involving actor Lee Jang-woo.
Actor Lee Jang-woo is a shareholder in and participates in the operation of Hoseokchon. Hoseokchon has already paid the full delivery amount to Mujin Co., Ltd., the contractual transaction partner, and the problem occurred afterward when Mujin failed to pay company A the amount due.
In other words, there is no direct contractual relationship between company A and Hoseokchon or actor Lee Jang-woo, and reports suggesting that actor Lee Jang-woo did not pay the amount due are not true. Also, the claim in some reports that 'Mujin was the owner of Hoseokchon' is not true, and Mujin has never held equity in Hoseokchon. Actor Lee Jang-woo has no connection with Mujin.
However, we feel a moral responsibility for not sufficiently checking whether the intermediary company fulfilled its obligations within such a transaction structure.
Also regarding the supplier's attempt to contact via social media, actor Lee Jang-woo's account receives dozens of messages a day, and messages from accounts he does not follow are sorted into a separate 'message requests' folder, making immediate review difficult. It is true that those messages were not checked in a timely manner, but we want to make clear that they were not deliberately avoided or ignored.
For reference, we attach verifiable documentation showing that Hoseokchon paid Mujin the amounts due.
We regret that misunderstandings arose from inaccurate information, and we will provide the necessary cooperation to ensure the matter is resolved amicably.
Thank you.<
[Photo] OSEN DB, HUNUS Entertainment
[OSEN]