In the Netflix entertainment show ‘Black and White Chef,’ where participants have recently been embroiled in personal and financial issues, ‘Mixed Rice King’ Yoo Bibim (60) has apologized for admitting to illegal business operations. On the 1st, Mr. Yoo posted on his social networking service (SNS), “With a sorry heart, I want to confess my past mistakes.” 
In this post, Mr. Yoo said, “I have been involved in various businesses such as street fruit vending, food stalls, and a beauty salon but failed every time. Since 2003, I have been operating a restaurant in an unlicensed location and was sentenced to probation after getting arrested,” he confessed, adding, “I deeply regretted it, and closed the business for a year afterward.” He continued, “However, driven by the need to survive, I registered a performance, exhibition, and Korean cuisine experience business under my wife’s name and operated it through expedients until recently,” he said. “I desperately appealed to public institutions and the Regulatory Reform Committee to lift the regulations for running a restaurant legally, but the walls were too high, and I couldn’t achieve my goal.”
According to Yonhap News, Mr. Yoo was indicted for violating the Food Sanitation Act by operating an unreported restaurant with cooking equipment in Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do, and was sentenced to eight months in prison in 2015. The sentence was reduced to probation on appeal. It turned out that his restaurant, which was only paying 980,000 won a year for the land rent by leasing national land, became famous and generated annual sales worth hundreds of millions of won.
He reportedly had been fined several times for similar violations before. The court at the time stated, “Considering the prolonged disregard for the legal order, continuing illegal operations despite repeated crackdowns, changing the business owner to avoid legal punishment, and accumulating profits running into hundreds of millions through illegal operations, a severe punishment is necessary to give a stern warning.”
Regarding this, Mr. Yoo said, “I know that breaking the law cannot be justified for any reason,” and confessed, “As an ordinary person suddenly in the spotlight, neither my wife nor I have had a peaceful day.” Mr. Yoo stated, “I will return to my initial intentions, research the phenomenon of mixed rice, and focus on writing an encyclopedia of mixed rice characters.” He added, “As an apology, I will open the restaurant space I’ve nurtured wholeheartedly for 20 years as a free venue for mixed rice exhibitions and performances. In the Bibim Sound relocated to Hanok Village, I will repay with the best materials legally.” He also said, “I apologize for the great disappointment caused by my shortcomings,” and added, “While the past 20 years were for livelihood, I will live the next 20 for the culture of mixed rice in Korea.”
Earlier, on the 30th of last month, Dispatch reported on the complex private life involving Triple Star (real name Kang Seungwon), his ex-wife A, and former girlfriend B. In mid-last month, Maeil Newspaper reported that chef Lee Youngsook, who won the Korean Cuisine Contest 2, has not repaid a loan of 1 billion won borrowed from A, the representative of a mushroom farm, for founding a local restaurant for 14 years. Regarding the controversies involving ‘Black and White Chef’ participants, including Mixed Rice King, Netflix stated, “It is difficult to verify personal life issues of participants,” maintaining a cautious stance.
In this post, Mr. Yoo said, “I have been involved in various businesses such as street fruit vending, food stalls, and a beauty salon but failed every time. Since 2003, I have been operating a restaurant in an unlicensed location and was sentenced to probation after getting arrested,” he confessed, adding, “I deeply regretted it, and closed the business for a year afterward.” He continued, “However, driven by the need to survive, I registered a performance, exhibition, and Korean cuisine experience business under my wife’s name and operated it through expedients until recently,” he said. “I desperately appealed to public institutions and the Regulatory Reform Committee to lift the regulations for running a restaurant legally, but the walls were too high, and I couldn’t achieve my goal.”
According to Yonhap News, Mr. Yoo was indicted for violating the Food Sanitation Act by operating an unreported restaurant with cooking equipment in Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do, and was sentenced to eight months in prison in 2015. The sentence was reduced to probation on appeal. It turned out that his restaurant, which was only paying 980,000 won a year for the land rent by leasing national land, became famous and generated annual sales worth hundreds of millions of won.
He reportedly had been fined several times for similar violations before. The court at the time stated, “Considering the prolonged disregard for the legal order, continuing illegal operations despite repeated crackdowns, changing the business owner to avoid legal punishment, and accumulating profits running into hundreds of millions through illegal operations, a severe punishment is necessary to give a stern warning.”
Regarding this, Mr. Yoo said, “I know that breaking the law cannot be justified for any reason,” and confessed, “As an ordinary person suddenly in the spotlight, neither my wife nor I have had a peaceful day.” Mr. Yoo stated, “I will return to my initial intentions, research the phenomenon of mixed rice, and focus on writing an encyclopedia of mixed rice characters.” He added, “As an apology, I will open the restaurant space I’ve nurtured wholeheartedly for 20 years as a free venue for mixed rice exhibitions and performances. In the Bibim Sound relocated to Hanok Village, I will repay with the best materials legally.” He also said, “I apologize for the great disappointment caused by my shortcomings,” and added, “While the past 20 years were for livelihood, I will live the next 20 for the culture of mixed rice in Korea.”
Earlier, on the 30th of last month, Dispatch reported on the complex private life involving Triple Star (real name Kang Seungwon), his ex-wife A, and former girlfriend B. In mid-last month, Maeil Newspaper reported that chef Lee Youngsook, who won the Korean Cuisine Contest 2, has not repaid a loan of 1 billion won borrowed from A, the representative of a mushroom farm, for founding a local restaurant for 14 years. Regarding the controversies involving ‘Black and White Chef’ participants, including Mixed Rice King, Netflix stated, “It is difficult to verify personal life issues of participants,” maintaining a cautious stance.
Reporter Jaeil Bang zeilism@asiae.co.kr
<ⓒAsia Business, an economic content platform for investors, unauthorized reproduction and redistribution prohibited>
