Theborn Korea, a restaurant franchise operated by CEO Baek Jong-won, firmly refuted various speculations.
On the 30th, Theborn Korea released a statement saying, "Recently, there have been numerous articles regarding Theborn Korea's regional development projects, such as 'production of YouTube videos for the Inje County festival,' 'establishment of the Gunsan Food Industry Development Center,' and 'sales of local festivals.' However, some media outlets have published articles with inaccuracies or have used expressions and phrases that can cause misunderstandings, and we wish to clarify the facts."
First, regarding the Inje County festival, they refuted the suspicion that the county paid 550 million won for the production of two regional festival videos, stating, "This is completely false." They further explained, "Of the actual contract budget of 500 million won, 150 million won was used for the production and promotion of two YouTube videos, while the remaining 350 million won was utilized for facility development, menu consulting, and other overall festival operations."
In addition, they stated that "the promotional video was filmed over a total of five months, starting in February 2024 until the festival in June, and there is a significant difference in the production period and input personnel compared to typical promotional videos," adding, "A total of 16 professional production team members (including producers and writers) participated in creating the content, and the related budget was determined after considering the long production process and the advertising effect of Baek Jong-won's YouTube channel (with approximately 6.5 million subscribers)."
They also clarified misunderstandings related to the establishment of the Gunsan Food Industry Development Center. Theborn Korea stated, "Gunsan City is reported to have invested 7 billion won in a manner that appears to provide preferential treatment to Theborn Korea, but this is not true," stating, "The project is based on the budget and land already secured by Gunsan City and is not a model of providing tailored benefits to a specific corporation. Gunsan City requested cooperation by referencing the successful case of our food industry development center."
They also mentioned the sales scale of Theborn Korea's local festivals. Theborn Korea stated, "Since the beginning of the festival project in 2023, we have secured a total of 16 local festivals, with total sales amounting to approximately 4.1 billion won," adding, "The service fees for all festivals averaged around 300 million won, and the reported sales of 9.1 billion won over three years included not only local festivals but also regional coexistence projects such as revitalizing urban centers and traditional markets, as well as consulting for restaurant startups and educational programs for socially vulnerable groups."
Finally, Theborn Korea stated, "We will prioritize local coexistence as our top value and build trust through transparent operations and accurate information disclosure. However, we will actively clarify any part of the damages to our efforts and local governments caused by unverified facts or false reports," adding, "We hope you will continue to watch Theborn Korea's sincere efforts and achievements."
[Photo] OSEN DB
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