Controversy Over YouTuber's Visit to Gukbap Street Video
A controversy has arisen after a YouTube video shared an experience of finding a fly in food at a restaurant in the gukbap street of Yesan-gun, Chungnam. This occurred recently in the area formerly known as ‘Baek Jong-won Gukbap Street,’ which has since been renamed simply ‘Gukbap Street’ without Baek Jong-won Theborn Korea CEO’s name.
On the YouTube channel ‘Kkuldom-eun Motmallyeo,’ a video titled “The Shocking Current State of Yesan Market Gukbap Street That Even Baek Jong-won Gave Up On, Why Young People Stop Going to the Market” was uploaded on the 12th.
According to the video, YouTuber Kkuldom visited a beef head gukbap restaurant in Gukbap Street on the evening of the 11th. Upon receiving the beef head gukbap, Kkuldom remarked, “There’s an incredible amount of meat. It’s almost half meat, half broth,” and praised, “This isn’t your typical beef head gukbap. The meat is cut into large chunks, with a reddish tint, and the seasoning is perfectly balanced so you don’t even need to add salted shrimp or salt.” He also evaluated, “This gukbap costs 8,000 won. Honestly, it tastes good enough to pay 11,000 won.”
However, a problem soon arose. While eating, a middle-aged man complained to the staff, saying, “Come here. How can you run a business like this while people are eating?” The restaurant owner responded nonchalantly, “It’s because a fly got in, right?” and added, “You don’t have to eat the gukbap, but if you want, I’ll serve you a new bowl.”
Hearing the owner say, “We usually pay a lot of attention to flies in the summer,” Kkuldom thought, “Suddenly, I wonder, ‘Could there be a fly in my gukbap too?’” and said, “The taste is definitely good, but my thoughts got complicated.”
The owner soon brought a new bowl of gukbap, saying, “It can happen, please understand. Sorry. It’s summer these days, so it can’t be helped.” The customer replied, “That’s why you have to be careful,” to which the owner said, “Is it something I can be careful about? It’s the fly’s fault.” Kkuldom expressed through subtitles, “Suddenly, my appetite dropped sharply.”
The video clearly showed many flies and other flying insects inside the restaurant. Flies were also seen landing on the rice and cubed radish kimchi placed on Kkuldom’s table.
Despite this, Kkuldom finished the gukbap cleanly. The customer who received the gukbap with the fly also reportedly said, “It tastes good.”
Kkuldom commented, “Since it’s a market business, there can be bugs or flies,” and added, “The removal of CEO Baek’s name seems to reflect that the market has its own style, and suddenly trying to change it to department store-level hygiene quality made the restaurant owners feel resistant.” He concluded, “The taste was really satisfying, but there were some disappointing aspects in other areas.”
Previously, CEO Baek explained on his YouTube channel the process of creating Baek Jong-won Gukbap Street seven years ago at the suggestion of the Yesan county governor and his efforts to improve the hygiene of the gukbap restaurants. However, some business owners broke their promises with CEO Baek, and hygiene and taste did not improve. CEO Baek stated, “We are planning to remove Baek Jong-won’s name in consultation with the county,” adding, “We invested a lot of effort and significant costs over several years, but it seems it became a burden for the owners.”
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