"‘Yeondon’ Pork Cutlet, Unavailable Even at a Premium Price, Finally Served"… Baek Jong-won Opens First ‘Yeondon Bul-Katsu’ Branch at Pobangteo Pork Cutlet

Baek Jong-won, CEO of The Born Korea. Photo by The Born Korea

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] The pork cutlet restaurant ‘Yeondon,’ which gained great attention after appearing on SBS variety show ‘Baek Jong-won's Alley Restaurant’ Pobangteo episode, has been reborn as a franchise.

The Born Korea, led by CEO Baek Jong-won, opened the Yeondon Vol-Katsu Sasu branch at 317 Seohaean-ro, Jeju Island on the 15th.

Yeondon posted on Instagram the day before, “Yeondon Handmade Vol-Katsu Sasu branch opens on September 15. We ask for your great interest,” along with a video showing the exterior of the store.

With the store’s promotional phrase, “Filled with Jeju Yeondon’s special know-how and our pork, Handon,” the Vol-Katsu single item is sold for 3,000 won, and a box of five is sold for 15,000 won.

Prior to this, The Born Korea registered the disclosure document for Yeondon Vol-Katsu on the 30th of last month. The disclosure document is a form registered by franchise operators that provides general information about the company’s recent performance, number of stores, franchise fees, interior costs, and other details.

According to the disclosure document, the franchise deposit for Yeondon Vol-Katsu is 8.3 million won. The franchise fee (joining fee + training fee) is 3.3 million won, and the total interior cost based on the standard store area (33㎡) is 22 million won. The franchise contract period is initially 2 years, with a 1-year extension.

Meanwhile, Yeondon is a pork cutlet restaurant introduced in Baek Jong-won's Alley Restaurant Pobangteo episode and later relocated to Jeju Island, where it established itself. Initially, customers were accepted on a first-come, first-served basis, but cases of people staying overnight to eat Yeondon pork cutlet increased, and scenes such as ‘proxy queuing’ occurred, leading the restaurant to switch to a reservation system.

Currently, due to the impact of COVID-19, reservations are only accepted online, but competition remains fierce, and it is reported that reservation rights are sometimes traded at a premium.