Controversy Over '140,000 Won Old-fashioned Snacks'... Eventually Yeongyang-gun Issues "Public Apology"

"Apologies to the People for Causing Concern"
"Acknowledgment of Inappropriate Explanation by External Merchants"

Yeongyang-gun, Gyeongbuk Province, issued a belated public apology regarding the traditional market overcharging controversy that arose after the broadcast of KBS2 variety show ‘1 Night 2 Days’ Season 4.

On the morning of the 6th, a representative from the Culture and Tourism Division of Yeongyang-gun Office posted a message titled ‘Yeongyang-gun Public Apology (1 Night 2 Days Broadcast, Old Snacks Overcharging Controversy)’ on the county office bulletin board to address the controversy.

Yeongyang-gun stated, “We sincerely apologize to the public for causing concern,” and added, “We also acknowledge that it was inappropriate to mention in the explanatory material distributed on the 5th that this issue was solely the problem of outside merchants, and we offer our repeated apologies.”

Earlier, in the episode of ‘1 Night 2 Days’ aired on the 4th, Yeon Jeong-hoon, Kim Jong-min, and Yoo Seon-ho visited a traditional market located in Yeongyang-gun, Gyeongbuk Province, to prepare for a village festival, purchasing various prizes and old-fashioned snacks. The scale shown on the broadcast screen indicated a price of about 4,500 won per 100g of snacks. The members were taken aback by the high price and hesitated while asking about it, during which the shop owner quickly finished packaging three bags of snacks. When the members tried to bargain, the owner said, “How much did you eat earlier (as samples)?” and charged 150,000 won for the snacks.

The day before, Yeongyang-gun explained on its website that “the merchant who sold the old snacks for 140,000 won is an outside merchant and has no relation to the Yeongyang traditional market merchants,” but this did not escape criticism for shirking responsibility.

Yeongyang-gun admitted belatedly, “This issue occurred because Yeongyang-gun did not properly manage itinerant merchants while holding the festival. Itinerant merchants are also part of the festival,” and added, “Therefore, it is Yeongyang-gun’s rightful duty to thoroughly manage the festival site so that tourists visiting the festival can trust and use it with confidence.”

Yeongyang-gun also stated, “Our county will prepare measures to establish a commercial order that meets the public’s expectations to prevent recurrence of such incidents and strive to maintain trust with the public,” and “Furthermore, taking this incident as an opportunity, we will reexamine not only itinerant merchants but also traditional markets, restaurants, and other businesses to become a Yeongyang-gun that the public can trust and visit with confidence.”