Actor Lee Jang Woo’s agency has explained the situation regarding alleged unpaid bills involving a restaurant he is involved with.
On March 17, Dispatch raised allegations that Hosukchon, the sundaeguk (Korean blood sausage soup) restaurant widely believed to have been operated by Lee Jang Woo, failed to pay for delivered pork by-products, causing harm to a livestock distribution company.
According to the outlet, the amount left unpaid by the restaurant from November 2023 to May of last year totaled 50 million won (approximately $33,500). Part of the amount was reportedly paid, but additional unpaid balances accrued, bringing the outstanding sum to as much as 64 million won (approxmiately $42,900) as of this past January.
Following the report, Lee Jang Woo’s agency released an official statement along with a transfer confirmation receipt showing details of Hosukchon’s payment to its contractual business counterpart Mujin Co., Ltd., which allegedly had the obligations to make payment to the livestock distribution company.
Read the agency’s full statement below:
Hello, this is HUNUS Entertainment.
We would like to address the recent reports regarding actor Lee Jang Woo and the controversy over Hosukchon’s unpaid bills.
Actor Lee Jang Woo is a shareholder of Hosukchon and also participates in its operations. Hosukchon has already paid the full delivery payment to its contractual business counterpart Mujin Co., Ltd., in accordance with the contract, and the issue arose afterward when Mujin was unable to pay Company A.
In other words, there is no direct contractual relationship between Company A and Hosukchon or actor Lee Jang Woo, and reports suggesting that actor Lee Jang Woo failed to make payment are not true. In addition, claims in some reports that “Mujin was the owner of Hosukchon” are also untrue—Mujin has never held any equity stake in Hosukchon. Actor Lee Jang Woo has no connection to Mujin either.
However, within this transaction structure, we do feel a moral responsibility for not having sufficiently monitored whether the intermediary company would fulfill its obligations.
Also, regarding the point that the supplier attempted to reach out via social media: dozens of messages or more are received on actor Lee Jang Woo’s account every day, and messages from accounts he does not follow are categorized separately under “message requests,” making them difficult to check immediately. As such, it is true that he was not able to check the messages in a timely manner, but we clearly state that this was not an intentional attempt to avoid or ignore them.
For reference, we are attaching verifiable materials confirming Hosukchon’s payment to Mujin.
We regret that misunderstandings arose due to information that is not true, and we will provide any necessary cooperation so that the matter can be resolved smoothly.
Thank you.
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