Seonggeun Lim Makes Surprise Appearance on Home Shopping Amid Drunk Driving Controversy: "Pre-Recorded Broadcast"

Pre-recorded Segments for Braised Short Ribs and Ox Knee Soup
Admitted to Three Previous Drunk Driving Offenses

Chef Seonggeun Lim. Home shopping broadcast screen capture

Chef Seonggeun Lim, who previously revealed that his license had been revoked after being caught three times for drunk driving, is proceeding with his scheduled home shopping appearances. According to the channel, the broadcasts in question were pre-recorded.

On the morning of January 19, home shopping channel ShoppingNT aired a broadcast selling braised short ribs featuring Chef Seonggeun Lim. Additionally, on the morning of January 20, a broadcast selling ox knee soup under Chef Lim's name is also scheduled.

According to a representative from ShoppingNT, these are "pre-recorded" broadcasts. Both today's broadcast and the one on January 20 are airing previously recorded segments.

The channel also provided a detailed explanation for why it is difficult to cancel the scheduled programming. A representative stated, "Broadcast contracts are finalized at least three days in advance, so if we cancel the programming arbitrarily, it would constitute a prohibited act as defined by the Fair Trade Commission and the Korea Communications Commission."

Chef Seonggeun Lim's Braised Short Ribs. ShoppingNT Capture

According to the court ruling released by Ilyo Shinmun, Seonggeun Lim was caught driving under the influence on January 15, 2020, at around 6:15 a.m., after driving approximately 200 meters while intoxicated on a street in Guro-gu, Seoul. At the time, his blood alcohol concentration was 0.141%, which is significantly above the threshold for license revocation and indicates a high level of intoxication.

On July 16, 2020, the court stated, "The defendant violated the prohibition on drunk driving more than twice and drove a vehicle while intoxicated," and sentenced Seonggeun Lim to one year in prison, suspended for two years. He was also ordered to complete 80 hours of community service and 40 hours of safe driving education.

It is also known that Seonggeun Lim received summary orders for fines of 2 million won in 2009 and 3 million won in 2017 for drunk driving. However, the court rulings for these two cases did not specify whether he actually drove the vehicle.