Actor Lee Jang-woo is pushing back after his sundaeguk restaurant, Hoseokchon, was swept up in an unpaid-balance controversy.
On the 17th, agency Hunus Entertainment stated, “Lee Jang-woo is a shareholder in Hoseokchon and participates in its operations. Hoseokchon already paid the full supply fee to its contracted vendor, Mujin Co., Ltd. The issue arose when Mujin failed to pay Company A (the party claiming damages).”
The agency added, “There is no direct contract between Company A and either Hoseokchon or Lee Jang-woo, and reports suggesting Lee failed to pay are not true. Claims in some reports that ‘Mujin was the owner of Hoseokchon’ are also incorrect―Mujin has never held any stake in Hoseokchon. Lee Jang-woo has no connection to Mujin.”
Earlier that day, a media outlet alleged that Hoseokchon, believed to be run by Lee, failed to pay for food supplies, causing harm to a livestock farm. The reported unpaid amount exceeded 40 million won. The farm’s operator, identified as Mr. A, said, “I trusted him because he’s a celebrity, but the payment has been delayed for over a year.”
Lee’s side maintains the full amount was already paid, and that money did not reach Mr. A due to the middleman’s error. To support this, they released transfer records showing that from January 2024 to September 2025, Hoseokchon paid approximately 450 million won to Mujin.
However, the agency acknowledged, “Within this transaction structure, we feel a moral responsibility for not sufficiently monitoring the middleman’s performance,” adding, “We regret any misunderstandings caused by incorrect information and will fully cooperate to resolve the matter smoothly.”
Addressing reports that the supplier tried to contact Lee via social media but was ignored, the agency said, “Dozens of messages are received on Lee Jang-woo’s account every day, and messages from non-followed accounts go to a separate ‘Message Requests’ folder, which is hard to check immediately. It’s true the message wasn’t seen in time, but it was not an intentional attempt to avoid or ignore it.”
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Sun-ae)