Chef Yoon Nam-no, who gained popularity by appearing on the Netflix series 'Black and White Chef' under the nickname 'Cooking Ddora-i,' expressed anger over the ongoing resale of restaurant reservation tickets.
On the 12th, Chef Yoon posted on his social media (SNS), "I hope you cancel with a clear conscience," along with a screenshot of a post selling restaurant reservation tickets on a secondhand trading application (app).
The revealed photo contained a post stating, "I reserved it with great difficulty, but I can't go due to work that day," offering to transfer a 2-person reservation ticket for the restaurant operated by Chef Yoon. The poster wrote that they were selling the ticket for a total of 110,000 won, including a 60,000 won reservation fee plus a 50,000 won transfer fee.
Regarding the practice of selling reservation tickets at a premium, Chef Yoon pointed out, "If you think about it the other way around, I could sell this and make a profit," adding, "On a monthly basis for the restaurant, the transfer fees alone would amount to about 20 million won." He then expressed his displeasure, saying, "I just can't do it in good conscience," and "Please don't make me lose my temper."
He further added to his followers, "If you contact this person and just send me their name and number, I will repay you with my ramen and Saba-yong cupcakes."
Since the release of the Netflix series 'Black and White Chef: Culinary Class War' last year, the buying and selling of reservation tickets for the participants' restaurants have also increased. Some sellers add at least a 50% premium or tens of thousands of won to the restaurant reservation tickets to make a profit. This is an expansion of the scalping trade that used to occur mainly for famous singers' concerts, performances, and sports games.
In January, Chef Yoon also pointed out this issue, appealing, "Even my family and acquaintances do not accept these tickets, but due to the transfer fees, it is very difficult. I will root out the brokers." The situation is the same for other famous chefs who appeared on Black and White Chef, such as Choi Hyun-seok and Kwon Sung-joon. The restaurant of Chef Ahn Sung-jae, who served as a judge, recently became fully booked ahead of its reopening, but posts requesting to purchase reservation tickets through secondhand sites continue to appear steadily.
Generally, when tickets for sports games or performances are traded as scalped tickets, they can be punished under the Minor Offenses Act. However, since restaurants are not venues explicitly mentioned in the current legal provisions, opinions differ on whether the resale of restaurant reservation tickets can be subject to punishment.
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