"Is This 10,000-Won Fried Chicken?" Jinju City Expels Vendor from Festival, Vows to Prevent Recurrence

Jinju City Cracks Down on Overpriced Festival Food
Vendor Expelled for Price Gouging at Event

Jinju City in South Gyeongsang Province has expelled a vendor from the Namgang Lantern Festival after controversy erupted over the sale of an unreasonably small portion of fried chicken for 10,000 won.

Recently, on social media and other platforms, posts spread rapidly about someone purchasing a very small portion of fried chicken for 10,000 won at the Jinju Namgang Lantern Festival, sparking widespread controversy.

The author of one such post stated, "I paid 10,000 won for fried chicken, but I was shocked when I received it," and shared a photo. The image showed just a few pieces of dry, lackluster fried chicken and six or seven broken French fries in a container no bigger than a palm. The author further complained, "It was cold and soggy, as if it had been fried ages ago," adding, "There were even shrimp chips lining the bottom."

A photo of fried chicken purchased for 10,000 won by a netizen at the Jinju Lantern Festival venue. Thread

As the controversy grew, news articles appeared discussing "inflated prices at local festival booths" and claims that "food truck daily rental fees are 1 million won." In response, Jinju City conducted on-site inspections and fact-checking at the festival, ultimately expelling the food truck responsible for selling the controversial fried chicken. Additionally, after rumors spread that the daily rental fee for food trucks at the festival was 1 million won, Jinju City investigated and found that the actual fee was set at a relatively affordable 125,000 won per day.

The city stated that it conducts real-time monitoring of food trucks and booth operation areas, checking product prices, hygiene, and crowd levels, and responds promptly on-site to any complaints received. With large-scale events such as the Namgang Lantern Festival, Gaecheon Art Festival, and Korea Drama Festival continuing in the region until the 19th, the city emphasized that it will make every effort to manage the festival sites. A city official commented, "We will do our utmost to prevent inconvenience for citizens and tourists, such as overpriced food, by strengthening on-site inspections, improving service quality management, and expanding volunteer training."