Emergency Win-Win Committee Convened on August 13
Held in Response to Owners' Associations' Request
Theborn Korea announced on August 14 that it has decided to actively respond to malicious YouTubers through an emergency Win-Win Committee discussion.
The company held an emergency Win-Win Committee meeting the previous day at the Startup Briefing Hall annex in Seocho-gu, Seoul, and resolved to take a firm stance against malicious YouTubers.
The meeting was attended by the owners' associations of ten brands, including Paikdabang, Yeokjeon Udon, Hanshin Pocha, Paikboy Pizza, Saemaeul Sikdang, Bonga, Dolbaegi Jip, Hongkong Banjeom, Yeondon Bolkatsu, and Maki Oreum. External committee members included Ahn Jin-gul, Director of the People's Livelihood Economy Research Institute (former Citizens' Committee Chair of People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy), Yoo Hyo-sang, Director of the Unicorn Management and Economy Research Institute (former Dean of CHA University Graduate School of Business), Attorney Koo Jung-mo from Deoksu Law Firm, and representatives from Theborn Korea headquarters.
This Win-Win Committee was convened in response to a request submitted by the owners' associations of each brand to Theborn Korea headquarters on August 7 via Deoksu Law Firm, calling for an "emergency Win-Win Committee meeting regarding certain YouTubers."
Koo Jung-mo, an attorney from Deoksu Law Firm who has been working with Theborn Korea franchise owners to form the owners' associations, explained the reason for convening the emergency committee: "Many owners have asked whether it is right for us to continue to suffer damages in this way, and whether there are any countermeasures at the headquarters level. We requested this meeting to hear the headquarters' solutions through the Win-Win Committee."
The participating franchise owners voiced strong concerns that certain YouTubers, through their videos, are seriously damaging the reputation of Theborn Korea franchise owners by using provocative and defamatory expressions such as: "They run brands based on random recipes instead of taste and hygiene," "They use franchise owners as guinea pigs for business experiments," and "They exploit franchisees for fly-by-night franchise operations."
The owners' associations agreed to pursue a joint statement gathering the consent of franchisees nationwide, while the headquarters agreed to develop countermeasures against the malicious YouTubers' false claims.
A representative from Theborn Korea headquarters stated, "We recognize the seriousness of the issue, but there were concerns that any action by headquarters could be further exploited by certain YouTubers as additional content aimed at increasing their viewership. However, given the growing tangible harm to our franchise owners, we will now take a much firmer stance at the headquarters level."
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