An establishment serving sundae-guk, which actor Lee Jang-woo was reportedly involved in operating, has been embroiled in allegations of unpaid food material costs.
According to a Dispatch report on the 17th, a person surnamed A, who runs a livestock distribution company in Cheonan, supplied by-products such as pig heads and tripe to B, a sundae-guk business that Lee Jang-woo promoted on a broadcast. But A said the person has not been paid more than 40 million won for the food materials.
The transaction between A and B reportedly continued for about one year and six months from Nov. 2023 to May 2025. A said, "At first, settlement was normal, but the cycle gradually lengthened and I have not been paid for eight months."
Messages that A disclosed included payment requests along with statements such as "There is a quantity that ships every week, but receivables are increasing" and "Further shipments are difficult." In the process, A said the person even sent a direct message to Lee Jang-woo asking for a resolution, but received no reply.
As the controversy spread, a B representative told the outlet, "Lee Jang-woo is not directly involved in running the sundae-guk restaurant," adding, "It was a place operated by a friend of 20 years who served as the owner."
Earlier, Lee Jang-woo appeared on MBN "Jun Hyun-moo Plan" and said, "I personally boiled 100 pig heads."
However, Lee Jang-woo's side flatly pushed back against the controversy over unpaid food material settlements, saying it was "not true."
HUNUS Entertainment, Lee Jang-woo's agency, said in an official statement that day, "We regret that a misunderstanding arose from information that is not true, and we will provide all necessary cooperation so the matter can be resolved amicably."
HUNUS Entertainment explained, "B already paid the full amount of the delivery price to the contracted counterparty, but the counterparty failed to pay B, which caused the problem."
It also emphasized, "There is no direct contractual relationship between B and actor Lee Jang-woo," and "Reports suggesting that actor Lee Jang-woo did not make the payment are not true."
It added, "Within this transaction structure, we feel a moral responsibility for not sufficiently checking whether the intermediary company fulfilled its obligations."