Controversy Surrounding Kang Hyung-wook's '5.99 Million Won Full Package' Sparks Debate: Expensive vs Not

Program Price Under Scrutiny Following Power Abuse Controversy
Bodeum Company Triples Operating Profit Compared to Previous Year

Amid ongoing allegations of power abuse related to 'Bodeum Company,' operated by dog trainer Kang Hyung-wook, the consultation fees for programs run by Bodeum Company have come under scrutiny. On the 22nd, a post titled 'Kang Hyung-wook Consultation Fees' written by a netizen a year ago gained attention on the online community for office workers, 'Blind.' The attached photo showed Kang's program tuition fees, and the author pointed out that the price was "at the level of university tuition."

Dog trainer Kang Hyung-wook (left), Bodeum Company training program (right). [Source=Asia Economy DB, Bodeum Company]

According to the photo posted by the netizen, Bodeum Company's '365-Day Master Plan Full Package' has a list price of 7.39 million KRW, with a discounted price of 5.99 million KRW. The program includes ▲365-day access to educational videos ▲two 1:1 lessons with trainer Kang Hyung-wook (worth about 3 million KRW) ▲12 personal lesson tickets with Bodeum trainers (worth about 1.56 million KRW) ▲24 offline group lesson tickets (worth about 720,000 KRW), among others.

Another program, the '365-Day VVIP Full Package,' was priced at 5.76 million KRW with a discount bringing it to around 3.99 million KRW. Although the number of personal and group lesson tickets is fewer than the previous program, the composition is not significantly different. Posts about Bodeum Company's consultation fees have attracted interest in various online communities over the past few years. At the time, netizens were divided between those who accepted the prices, saying, "As the industry leader, that price is reasonable," and "There is demand, so the price is like that," and those who criticized the costs as excessive, saying, "Raising a dog costs a lot," and "3 million KRW for two 1:1 lessons is too much."

Looking at the photo posted by the netizen, Bodeum Company's '365-Day Master Plan Full Package' is originally priced at 7,390,000 KRW, with a discounted price of 5,990,000 KRW.
[Photo source=Bodeum Company website]

Perhaps aware of this, Kang addressed the pricing of Bodeum Company last January through his YouTube channel, saying, "Is it true that receiving training directly from Kang Hyung-wook is expensive? It’s upsetting that articles have been published giving the impression that the training programs are expensive, which is a misunderstanding. People think I make a lot of money, but from a business perspective, people might wonder, 'Why does Kang Hyung-wook run it like that?'" He added, "We don’t operate kindergartens or hotels. Doing both boarding and training causes conflicts. We focused on pride and didn’t pay much attention to making money, so it’s very upsetting whenever people say 'he makes a lot of money' or 'it’s expensive.'"

Perhaps aware of this, regarding the price of Bodeum Company, Mr. Kang explained through his YouTube channel last January, "Is it expensive to receive training directly from Kang Hyung-wook? It is upsetting that articles have been published giving the impression that the training program is expensive, which has caused many misunderstandings. People think I make a lot of money, but those in business might wonder, 'Why does Kang Hyung-wook run it like that?'"
[Photo by Kang Hyung-wook's YouTube channel 'Bodeum TV']

Currently, information about the program has disappeared from the company’s website. Bodeum Company announced that it will completely terminate its educational services from the 30th of next month due to internal circumstances. Meanwhile, according to the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure system, Bodeum Company, with Kang as CEO, posted an operating profit of 2.03183 billion KRW last year, nearly tripling from 740.35 million KRW the previous year.

Kang Hyung-wook Remains Silent Amid Power Abuse Allegations

Amid ongoing allegations of power abuse involving dog trainer Kang Hyung-wook's company 'Bodeum Company,' the consultation fees for programs operated by the company have come under scrutiny.
[Photo by Asia Economy DB]

Since last weekend, multiple online communities and social networking services (SNS) have seen continuous complaints from former employees about Bodeum Company. On the corporate information service 'JobPlanet,' Bodeum Company has a rating of 1.7 out of 5 stars. Company reviews have raised allegations including ▲continuous personal insults by company executives such as Kang Hyung-wook ▲checking employees’ messenger contents without consent ▲frequent employee surveillance using CCTV. On Kang’s YouTube channel, a former employee commented, "I once received spam wrapped in a dog waste bag as a holiday gift."

Additionally, on JTBC’s 'Incident Commander,' further revelations were made, including claims of receiving insulting remarks from Kang, unfair pay after resignation, and a former employee’s assertion that Kang instructed not to feed the dogs if the owner’s payment was delayed. Kang has yet to issue any official response to these claims. KBS’s 'Dogs Are Incredible,' featuring Kang, has also decided to suspend broadcasting temporarily.