Food mogul halts all TV appearances amid multiple controversies

Paik Jong-won, CEO of Theborn Korea, bows in apology to participants in the company's first shareholders' meeting in Seoul, March 28, amid controversies that affected sales of the company's food franchise brands. The company was listed on the KOSPI last November. Yonhap

By Ko Dong-hwan

• Published May 6, 2025 3:02 PM KST

Paik Jong-won pledges to focus on franchise business

Celebrity restaurateur Paik Jong-won said he would halt all TV appearances amid mounting allegations about the poor quality of his products and false ingredient information at his various franchises.

The decision comes amid controversies that have damaged his reputation and eroded public trust in the food businesses under his oversight.

Paik, CEO of the food franchise company Theborn Korea, released a YouTube video on Tuesday announcing that he would stop appearing on TV and other media programs, except for those already in production, in order to “invest all efforts into my role as a businessman, not a celebrity.”

The video marked the latest apology from Paik and his company. He had previously apologized to the public over the controversies, both in a written statement and in person at a shareholders’ meeting in March.

“I bear sole responsibility for the entirety of the problems,” said the country’s most prominent food celebrity in the video clip.

“There is now even a rumor about me bossing around people in the show business industry ... From now on, I’ll concentrate on growing the company, recovering its public trust and expanding its markets to global stages. I’ll personally announce the company’s plan to expand into overseas markets and increase its capacity via mergers and acquisitions shortly.”

Recent criticism has stemmed from multiple issues: the company knowingly misreporting ingredient quantities for certain products sold on its e-commerce platform; the poor quality of its ham and beer products; a hygiene controversy at regional festivals it cohosted; demands for unreasonably high promotional fees for those festivals; allegations of sexual harassment by a company official against a female franchisee; and accusations that Paik abused his influence in the entertainment industry through his role as a food critic and judge on cooking competition shows.

The company has addressed some of the controversies. On April 30, it denied an allegation that it received 550 million won from Inje County Office in Gangwon Province to promote the county’s festival on Paik’s YouTube channel.

The company also stated that its successful bid to build a new dining industry support center in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, was not the result of collusion, contrary to circulating rumors. The company also denied allegations that it was monopolizing the regional festival market, reportedly earning 9.1 billion won over the past three years. It clarified that it had actually earned 4.1 billion won during that period and organized only 1.2 percent of all regional festivals in the country last year.

“Our franchisees’ desperate situations hurt me the most,” Paik said in the video. “I’ve decided to leave no franchisee behind. Our franchisees’ success is the success of the company. That will in turn allow satisfactory performance for our shareholders.”

Paik said he will introduce special measures to support the company’s 3,200 franchisees across 22 brands, including Paik’s Coffee, Paik Boy Pizza, Udon0410 and Rolling Pasta. Earlier this month, the company announced a 5 billion won ($3.6 million) support package for its franchisees, which includes a temporary exemption from brand loyalty fees, increased brand promotion at the company’s expense and discounted prices on ingredient supplies.

“2025 will be the year of the company’s rebirth,” Paik said.