Director Kim Jae-hwan Criticizes Baek Jong-won: "Company Crisis? He Needs to Apologize"

Director Kim Jae-hwan, known for his documentaries "The True-Taste Show" and "Mis-President" and a former MBC educational program producer, has openly criticized Baek Jong-won, the CEO of The Born Korea.

On the 21st, during an appearance on the YouTube channel '45 Plus', Director Kim addressed the recent controversies surrounding The Born Korea, including issues of origin, pricing, and hygiene. He stated that the company's crisis is "100% due to owner's risk and that Baek Jong-won himself should apologize in front of the camera."

Last August, Kim also criticized Baek Jong-won, who was preparing for The Born Korea's IPO, saying, "On TV, he appears as a savior of restaurants, but in reality, he has been a destroyer of local markets and, despite appearing as a savior of farmers, he actually uses imported agricultural products."

In the recent broadcast, Kim revealed that Baek Jong-won had made unreasonable demands that could be perceived as bullying, insisting on appointing specific writers and camera crews. This led to the departure of some unwilling participants, according to Kim.

Kim stated, "Baek Jong-won's top-down approach can be efficient when it works well, but it turns into bullying when it goes wrong."

Finally, Kim pointed out that "The Born Korea's apology statement lacks an apology from Baek Jong-won himself," emphasizing that "It's time to stop relying on the power of broadcasting. For fair competition with other franchise companies, it's crucial to abandon the broadcast-driven growth strategy and undergo an impartial evaluation."

Many people believe that it is high time Baek Jong-won listens to the criticism with a sense of responsibility. However, some are puzzled why these criticisms are surfacing only now, given Baek's decade-long active presence in the media.

(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Kyung-youn)