Prosecutors cleared Theborn Korea of allegations of violating the country-of-origin labeling law in a case involving CEO Paik Jong-won. It appears Paik has shed the "judicial risk" linked to disputes over the origin of products he has promoted.
Prosecutors said on the 5th that the Seoul Western District Prosecutors Office on Nov. 29 issued a no-charge decision for one Theborn Korea employee and the company on suspicion of violating the country-of-origin labeling law.
Theborn Korea was suspected of labeling some ingredients of products such as "Paik Jong-won's Baekseok Doenjang" and "Hanshin Pocha Stir-fried Octopus" as domestic on online malls even though they were foreign.
On Jun. 4 last year, the special judicial police of the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service sent one Theborn Korea employee and the corporation to the Western District Prosecutors Office with a recommendation to indict, saying a violation of the country-of-origin labeling law was established.
However, prosecutors ordered additional investigation, and the special judicial police returned the case to prosecutors on the 24th of last month with an opinion of no charge. Prosecutors were said to have determined it was hard to conclude the staff member intentionally misrepresented the origin. The same disposition appears to have been applied to the corporation.
Paik has been embroiled in disputes over the origin of products he promotes, but no-charge decisions have continued.
In Oct. last year, in connection with Theborn Korea's case involving violations of the Food Labeling and Advertising Act, police cleared Paik.
Police had received complaints and petitions alleging that Theborn Korea misled consumers into thinking the ingredients' origin of the "Deopjuk" and "Chewy Sweet Potato Bread" products was domestic and began an investigation, but reached that conclusion. However, police acknowledged some related charges for Theborn Korea and two working-level staff and sent the case to prosecutors without detention.
On the 23rd of last month, prosecutors cleared Baekseoldoga, an agricultural company jointly invested in by BTS member Jin and Paik Jong-won, the head of Theborn Korea, of allegations of violating the country-of-origin labeling law. Prosecutors determined that the origin labeling on the product labels was compliant, making it difficult to deem it a legal violation.
Baekseoldoga faced allegations that some batches of "IGIN Highball Tonic," manufactured by Genie's Lamp, used foreign concentrate, but the online sales site uniformly labeled the origin as domestic. Baekseoldoga, the seller, and Genie's Lamp, the manufacturer, are companies established with joint investment by Jin and CEO Paik Jong-won.