Chef Baek Jongwon explains allegations of ”blacklisting employees” at Saemaul Restaurant (South Korea)

Suspicions have been raised that Saemaul Restaurant, run by The Born Korea, headed by popular Korean chef Baek Jongwon, operated an "employee blacklist" at a private online cafe.
In response, The Born Korea stated that it was created at the request of the store owner to exchange employee complaints.
According to a report by Yonhap News TV on the 18th, The Born Korea has been operating since 2017.
The owners of Saemaul Restaurants ran a private online cafe to share information. They reportedly used the cafe to check instructions from headquarters.
However, three years ago, the "Employee Blacklist" bulletin board was created, and when you enter this bulletin board, you can actually find posts about blacklists.
The situation is being confirmed. In an interview with the media, The Born Korea explained, "At the request of a store owner, we created a bulletin board to exchange complaints about employees, but it was never actively used."
However, according to the Labor Standards Act, it is illegal to create and use a list with the purpose of hindering workers from finding employment, and violation of this law is punishable by imprisonment of up to five years or
The government will impose a fine of up to 50 million won on those who register. If the list is actually intended to disrupt employment, criminal punishment may be possible, which is likely to intensify the controversy.
Meanwhile, restaurant owners say there is no precedent for sharing blacklists among themselves, especially since it would be impossible to enforce this at a brand level.
Theborn Korea, led by CEO Baek, has been a hot topic since the beginning of this year. The "Pakham Gift Set" that was released before the Lunar New Year has been criticized for its price and quality.
In 2013, Baek Jongwon advertised the origin of its "Baek Jongwon Baeksok Miso," which is made from foreign ingredients, as if it were a domestic product, and Baek was indicted on charges of violating the Country of Origin Indication Act.
In response to the ongoing controversy, CEO Baek released a statement on the 13th of this month, saying, "We should have responded to your support with a good product, but we did not meet your expectations.
"There were many things we overlooked," he said, apologizing, "and I particularly deeply regret the mistakes that occurred during the production and distribution process. All of the problems are the result of my oversight."