How a Spam clone humbled celebrity chef Paik Jong-won and broke his culinary empire

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How a Spam clone humbled celebrity chef Paik Jong-won and broke his culinary empire

Published: 28 May. 2025, 17:40 Updated: 28 May. 2025, 18:23

CHO YONG-JUN
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Paik Jong-won speaks in an apology video uploaded to his YouTube channel on May 6 [SCREEN CAPTURE]

[KEY PLAYER]

“Culinary Class Wars” judge Paik Jong-won might be one of the most well-known chefs in Korea, but his fame is not rooted in Michelin-starred finesse or a fiery temper like Gordon Ramsay. Dubbed “Paik Jubu” by the public — a blend of his name and the Korean word for homemaker — the 58-year-old man earned the nickname for his relatable charm, fuss-free cooking tutorials and business acumen.

In fact, Paik doesn’t call himself a chef: he introduces himself as a food service entrepreneur or CEO. His company, TheBorn Korea, operates 25 brands of restaurants and cafes, totaling 3,066 branches.

But he has lately come under fire for hygiene problems, verbal abuse accusations and most importantly, issues with his newly listed company, TheBorn Korea — so much so that he stopped being a TV personality, despite reportedly having shot episodes for the second season of Netflix's "Culniary Class Wars" in April, according to Xsportsnews.

As TheBorn Korea became a listed company on Nov. 6 last year, with over 670,000 investors signing up for the initial subscription and a starting market cap of 743.6 billion won, the controversy surrounding him is no longer a private matter.

The stock of the food company closed during its first trading day at 51,400 won, but the stock sat at 25,800 won on Wednesday, almost half its initial price.

Paik said he was "considering" using his private funds to help TheBorn Korea get back on track, in a statement released May 21.

His case testifies to the vulnerability of a company built around a celebrity CEO, according to Sookmyung Women's University Professor Lee Hong-joo.

"TheBork Korea, by nature, heavily relies on CEO Paik Jong-won's brand image, and if the owner's image suffers, it becomes a liability to the company," the professor specializing in consumer economics told the Korea JoongAng Daily.

An alleyway once filled with Paik's restaurants

Paik entered the industry young. After enrolling at Yonsei University in 1985, he began working part-time at a local beerhouse selling fried chicken, Paik recalled in an interview with Maeil Business Paper in 1996. He soon acquired the beerhouse and expanded, operating three branches by his third year of university.

The entrepreneur followed up by opening Wonjo Ssambap, a Korean restaurant chain selling ssambap (leaf wraps) and samgyeopsal in 1993, which became the foundation of his restaurant empire, TheBorn Korea, in 2004. Paik’s success grew over the years as he opened Korean barbecue place Saemaul Restaurant in 2005 and Paik’s Coffee and HongKong Banjum 0410 Plus in 2006.

But though he expanded his business to China, opening Saemaul Restaurant in Beijing and Shanghai, and slapped his face on his restaurant logos to make himself a brand, Paik’s popularity with the general public rested solely on his image as a successful businessman who operated multiple budget-friendly franchises.

What really gave Paik widespread fame was when he announced his marriage to actor So Yu-jin,15 years his junior, and his appearance in MBC’s variety show “My Little Television” in 2015. The show, in which participants ran competing livestreams, provided Paik a stage to show that he wasn’t just a budget restaurant entrepreneur, but an entertainer who could communicate with viewers and share easy food recipes. Paik won the show eight times as the presenter with the highest views, and taught audiences more simplified recipes for tteokbokki, carbonara, French toast and more.

Paik’s media success continued as he starred on “Home Cook Master Paik” (2015), “Baek Jong-won’s Alley Restaurant” (2018-21), which had him mentoring struggling local restaurants, and Netflix’s “Culinary Class Wars” (2024) made him not only a local star but an international one as the show topped Netflix’s non-English TV series chart during its debut week.

A still image from Netflix's show ″Culinary Class Wars″ (2024) featuring Paik Jong-won as judge [NETFLIX KOREA]

The success story peaked that year as TheBorn Korea went public on Nov. 6, 2024. Analysts hyped up the company. Hanwha Research Center gave it a positive outlook, calling Paik the “Korean version of Gordon Ramsay,” while IR Kudos analyst Park Jun-hyung said the company had high growth potential in March.

Sudden downfall of 'Paik Jubu'

But Paik's food empire has crumbled since TheBorn Korea's IPO. Despite the hype from individual investors, the company's staff purchased only 35 percent of the 600,000 stocks allocated internally, signifying that even the company's employees doubted its potential.

While there were signs of cracks over the years, including franchise restaurants accused of lackluster quality, they were largely ignored due to Paik's kindhearted television persona.

Paik Jong-won holding Paik Ham, a pressed ham which was criticized for its high price and low pork content, on his YouTube channel [SCREEN CAPTURE]

It was a humble luncheon meat that finally did him in. Shortly after the CEO advertised his take on Spam, Paik Ham, before the Seollal holiday when box sets of processed meat are a popular gift, internet sleuths soon discovered that Paik Ham had a lower pork content at 85.4 percent compared to Spam's 92.4 percent, despite the former's higher price.

This not only sparked consumer doubts over the value proposition of Paik's offerings, but also damaged Paik's reputation.

The controversy surrounding Paik Ham had many digging up Paik’s previous remarks and television appearances, where he was also accused of repeated use of foul language and violations of the Food Sanitation Act, as he used a pesticide sprayer to spray apple juice and used construction tools as barbecue grills.

Questions about the health of Paik’s 25 restaurant and cafe franchises also surfaced, as only a few franchises, namely Paik's Coffee, Rolling Pasta and Paik's Noodle, have achieved relative success in recent years. Meanwhile, his other franchise brands, including Yeondon Ball Katsu, have suffered, with 18 branches closing in 2024 alone, to record a 36.73 percent closure rate.

Credit card data from the Financial Supervisory Service, acquired by Rebuilding Korea Party lawmaker Cha Gyu-geun on May 22, showed that HongKong Banjum 0410 Plus and Saemaeul Restaurant suffered an 18.5 percent and 17.6 percent decrease in credit card transactions in April, compared to the numbers recorded in February.

Paik, following multiple controversies and allegations, released multiple apologies where he said he would focus “not as TV personality Paik Jong-won but as entrepreneur Paik Jong-won,” vowing to pause all his media appearances — other than the ones he had already filmed, which is likely to include the second season of “Culinary Class Wars” — to focus on saving TheBorn Korea and its franchises.

"Paik Jong-won should bring in a professional manager and step down from the company management," Professor Kim said, admitting that such a decision was difficult for Paik, who used his image to grow the company.

The professor argued that a professional manager should be seeking radical reforms within the company, focusing on quality control and external growth overseas.

"Paik stepping down from the company might be a dangerous bet, but it can also be a turning point for TheBorn Korea to achieve sustainable management."

BY CHO YONG-JUN [[email protected]]