Chef Oh Jun-tak, who became known as the 'Black Spoon young rooster' on the Netflix hit Culinary Class Wars season 1, was reported to have been criminally accused by investors after closing his former restaurant Namyeongtak. Oh Jun-tak's side said they were not yet aware of the matter and plan to respond according to legal procedures.
On the 22nd, OSEN reported that two investors recently filed criminal complaints against Chef Oh Jun-tak, who operated Namyeongtak, accusing him of embezzlement in the course of business, breach of trust, obstruction of business and violations of the unfair competition prevention law, seeking criminal charges amounting to several hundred million won. Earlier reports said they had filed a civil suit seeking 200 million won in damages, and both civil and criminal actions have now been filed.
The investors claim that Oh Jun-tak unilaterally decided to close Namyeongtak, which had been operating with high sales for four years, without prior consultation and shut it down. They say he suddenly closed it last September, then opened a new restaurant with a menu similar to Namyeongtak, forced existing staff to leave and rehired them at his new establishment, and they suspect such circumstances. They also see problems with the settlement process. They repeatedly claimed that sales reporting during the restaurant's operation was negligent and that expense settlement was never carried out even once.
The investors' legal representative told OSEN, "We are pursuing both a civil damages suit and a criminal complaint. We first initiated the civil damages claim in February," and added, "We received the complaint the court sent right after the Lunar New Year holiday this year, but more than two months have passed and Chef Oh Jun-tak's side has not submitted a response."
Regarding the criminal complaint, the legal representative said, "Chef Oh Jun-tak prepared an Excel sheet himself summarizing amounts for the two investors showing 'from when to when and how much was spent on each item' and sent it. The last version received, combined with the two investors' amounts, is just over 680 million won. The business continued to operate for more than a year after that. So the calculation shows that actual expenditure exceeded 700 million won," and asserted, "However, Chef Oh Jun-tak embezzled part of the company's sales, including value-added tax, by transferring it to his personal account, and around March 2025 he apparently set up a separate company and prepared to commit breach of trust months before Namyeongtak suspended operations. That is why we proceeded with the criminal complaint."
About the civil suit, they said, "The 200 million won claim reported in the articles is only part of the total damages for the convenience of the lawsuit, and during the litigation we plan to secure materials such as Oh Jun-tak's financial transaction records to determine the damage amount. Considering the past revenue scale and investment in the establishment, we expect the amount to be much larger."
The investors' legal representative also said, "Chef Oh Jun-tak is coming out saying 'I have no obligation to settle. I didn't do anything wrong,' but from the investors' perspective, that attitude shows no sense of responsibility," and appealed, "When the investors asked, 'How will you resolve this? When will you finish this?' Chef Oh Jun-tak only said 'I understand' but took no action and never initiated contact. In fact, the lease contract is still in place so they continue to pay monthly rent. The investors' losses are accumulating, and this is very unethical and has caused them significant mental distress."
Amid the investors' complaint against Chef Oh Jun-tak, his legal representative also issued a statement.
Oh Jun-tak's legal representative told OSEN, "It is true there is a 200 million won damages suit, but we have not yet received anything related to the criminal complaint," and added, "We are not in a position to make any settlement. There was never a contract to settle, and we have no obligation to settle. Perhaps the issues raised by the opposing side will be clarified during the litigation process, and once the details are more concrete we will respond in detail," saying they plan to respond according to legal procedures.
Meanwhile, Oh Jun-tak raised his profile as the 'Black Spoon young rooster' through the Netflix series Culinary Class Wars season 1, released in 2024. He passed the first round and faced master Ahn Yoo-seong in the blind audition but was unfortunately eliminated.<
[Photo] Provided by Netflix
[OSEN]