Chef and broadcaster Oh Se-deuk publicly released additional conversation logs and rebutted allegations of fraud and farm takeover.
On the 27th, Oh Se-deuk posted, "Only facts and evidence answer lies and deception! I have been co-signing the agricultural cooperative corporation's debt of 1,111,000,000 won since June 2021 for six years," and released part of a conversation with a branch manager.
Earlier, an exposé on an online community alleged that they were suffering threats and obstruction of business from 'celebrity C.' The writer, a person surnamed A, claimed, "C has long been an acquaintance and employee of my mother. This connection continued even after my mother took over an agricultural cooperative called 'OO Farm' in Jeju in 2011, but now my mother is suffering because of C's persistent threats to her livelihood. C mentioned the farm on broadcasts in a way that made it appear to be his own, but that is not true, and he is currently repeatedly threatening and obstructing the staff who work at my mother's farm," the person claimed.
They said, "C claimed the farm was his and tore off a door to threaten an employee who was working so that they would not lock the door. The work phone that was in the office disappeared, and it was revealed that C contacted clients on the work phone to cut off contact with my mother and pressure them to deal with him. Both of these incidents have been reported to the police," adding, "While my mother was participating in a matcha event being held in Sejong, all the farm's harvests were gone. In addition, there have been numerous acts of obstruction of business, such as blocking the farm entrance with farm machinery."
They continued, "A trial is currently underway, and whenever an unjust act occurs we report it to the police. However, the pace at which cases are resolved is so slow that it does not match the damage suffered. Farming rights over a crop are given to the person who farms the crop regardless of the landowner. But my mother is having the crops she worked hard to cultivate stolen by someone who is not the landowner. C is not the landowner, has not done a single day of the related farming work, and did not contribute or invest even 100 won in the agricultural cooperative. Yet my mother is being threatened by someone without authority. Also, my mother is a victim of a 1 billion won financial fraud committed by C's family. There is also a legal judgment regarding this," they appealed.
Afterwards, speculation arose in the exposé that 'celebrity C' was chef Oh Se-deuk, and Oh Se-deuk posted directly, saying, "I make clear that the contents being circulated recently on social media are false claims that differ from the facts. Spreading false information carries serious legal responsibility, and I will respond sternly to this," and disclosed details about additional investment, equity transfer complaint documents, and so on. According to the certified mail, Oh Se-deuk rebutted that the farm-related stock transfer contract proceeded without his consent and that the seal used on the contract was also false.
Then B, the mother of person A and the claimant of the damage, said on her account, "I am the one who appointed Oh Se-deuk as the representative for three years. I repeatedly asked him to resign because he lacked the qualifications to serve as the agricultural cooperative representative and that the corporation would suffer, and I am releasing the text messages I saw and responding publicly. At the time, while negotiating 60 million won and because it was not a cash contribution, I proposed converting that amount into investment to become a formal cooperative member. This is indeed part of many proposals and conversations. Ultimately the monetary agreement broke down and contact was cut off, and due to a series of disputes an agreement was not reached. In other words, these were negotiation conversations and there is no agreement between Oh Se-deuk and OO Farm," she said.
She added, "All cooperative members have the agreement. What OO Farm needs now is normalization. If the expired representative position is resigned now, OO Farm will normalize within a month. And Oh Se-deuk should focus on his primary work and we should focus on agriculture," adding, "If Oh Se-deuk truly cares about each other's futures, he should no longer cause controversy and division, resign in accordance with proper procedure, and together recover the time wasted in conflict over the past six months."
But after B's statement was made public, Oh Se-deuk additionally released conversation logs and continued the dispute by preserving the details of receiving the agreement from B as well as B's comments about the 60 million won investment.
[Photo] OSEN DB, SNS
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