Actor Lee Jang-woo detailed the background of the recent 40 million won outstanding payment controversy and dismissed further suspicions. Lee Jang-woo emphasized that the payments had already been made but said he would take moral responsibility.
On the 2nd, the YouTube channel "Fat Uncle Lee Jang-woo" uploaded footage of Lee Jang-woo returning with an explanation video after taking a two-week break from YouTube following the outstanding payment controversy.
That day Lee Jang-woo appeared with an unhappy expression and explained, "I'm not the kind of person who would shortchange others' money and run a business like that. Actually, what happened is that there was an intermediate distributor and a livestock company. Once we received meat from the distributor, we settled accounts immediately."
Lee Jang-woo mentioned the transaction process, saying, "But last September we changed the distributor to another place, and the dealings ended in September last year. The meat costs had all been paid. But the intermediate distributor's business worsened and they couldn't pay the livestock company. That's how that outstanding payment occurred."
He continued, "But the livestock company owner misunderstood that I was operating that distributor. He thought I had to repay the outstanding amount because I was the operator there. He misunderstood like that," and added, "I contacted the livestock company owner, and now the distributor and the livestock company have completely cleared up the misunderstanding, and in any case I said I would take full moral responsibility for this matter."
Earlier, according to a report last month, Mr. A, who runs a livestock product distribution company in Cheonan, said he had supplied pig heads, offal and other byproducts to the sundae soup restaurant run by Lee Jang-woo since November 2023 but was not paid on time. The outstanding amount grew to as much as 64 million won, and he said about 40 million won or more is still overdue. Mr. A said he continued the transaction in good faith because Lee Jang-woo personally came down to Cheonan to check meat quality and showed enthusiasm, but he criticized the fact that payments were overdue while Lee Jang-woo was vigorously promoting the restaurant through broadcasts and YouTube.
In response, Lee Jang-woo's agency HUNUS Entertainment drew a line, saying, "He is a shareholder and participates in the operation of Hoseokchon. Hoseokchon has already paid the full delivery amount to its contracted supplier, Mujin Co., Ltd., and the problem occurred after Mujin failed to pay company B."
Lee Jang-woo's side revealed records showing Hoseokchon paid Mujin and said, "There is no direct contractual relationship between company B and Hoseokchon or actor Lee Jang-woo, and reports suggesting that actor Lee Jang-woo did not pay are not true. The claim in some reports that 'Mujin owned Hoseokchon' is also untrue; Mujin has never held equity in Hoseokchon. Actor Lee Jang-woo has no relation to Mujin."
Lee Jang-woo added his own statement, saying, "It was certainly my shortcoming that I did not directly confirm the overall transaction structure, and I deeply reflect on that point. As soon as the supplies to Hoseokchon are confirmed, on the premise that Mujin repays Mr. A the corresponding amount, I will resolve the issue by treating the equivalent amount as a loan to Mujin. I will do my best so that Mr. A can receive the rightful payment as soon as possible."
Lee Jang-woo also mentioned the resolution process on YouTube and addressed the "face-figurehead" allegation raised by some netizens. He said, "I didn't just lend my name to promote it. I really like food, and among them I love sundae soup so much that I wanted to open a sundae soup restaurant. Now I participate in menu development and recipe development, but doing only that doesn't make a restaurant. For things like interior, staff management and overall setup, I received help from experts," and added, "One of my childhood friends ran a butcher shop for a long time. He is a meat expert, so that friend served as the representative."
He went on, "I'm not someone who just puts my face on it and stays in the background; there are experts, and I work on menu development. It's absolutely not true that I tampered with the accounting or that I put a neighborhood friend in charge," and added, "Actually, this incident made me reflect a lot. I'm sincere about food, but it seems that wasn't conveyed well. From now on I'll look around more, think, and approach food more maturely. I'm preparing to show a mature, aged Lee Jang-woo."
Lee Jang-woo said he cleared up the misunderstanding held by Mr. A, the representative of the livestock company, and emphasized he would take moral responsibility to make the victim whole. He then mentioned direct solutions and worked to compensate the victim, and he is disclosing this process to the public in detail.
[Photo] OSEN DB, YouTube capture
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