Netflix's Culinary Class Wars judge Paik Jong-won accused of power abuse and food code violations

Paik Jong-won, judge on Netflix series Culinary Class Wars and owner of 26 restaurant franchises, including Paik’s Coffee, Paik’s Bibim and Bornga, is facing a string of controversies from alleged abuses of power to food code violations that began in late January this year. 

In the celebrity chef's most serious allegation, Paik was accused for violating country-of-origin labelling laws in its Paik-seok doenjang, a soya bean paste produced by Theborn Korea, an F&B company he founded, that was advertised as domestically made but allegedly contained Chinese fermented paste.

Theborn Korea has also been accused of violating the Farmland Act by manufacturing Paik-seok doenjang in an agricultural promotion zone, where using foreign raw materials in production is prohibited.

Paik could face up to seven years in prison or be fined up to 100 million won (US$70,000) under Korea’s Act on Origin Labeling for Agricultural and Fishery Products should he be charged with falsely advertising the origin of ingredients.

Other accusations about product quality include low pork content in Theborn Korea’s ham and minimal tangerine used in a tangerine beer launched by Theborn Korea’s affiliate franchise Yeondon Ball Katsu. 

This backlash has caused Paik’s past controversies to resurface as well, including a video uploaded to Paik's YouTube Channel in May 2024, where it showed an indoor liquefied petroleum gas canister near a brazier in an indoor kitchen, violating the Safety Control and Business of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Act. This could lead to fines of up to 40 million KRW under the act.

In his most recent controversy, on Apr 21 this year, former TV producer Kim Jae-hwan accused Paik of abusing his power towards staff on the 2015 live competition show My Little Television.

In a YouTube video, the former producer said: “Paik gradually began making unreasonable demands on the broadcasting company, insisting that only his designated writers and filming teams be included in the programme.

"This undermines the chemistry between the producer and the filming team, which is essential to the atmosphere of the show. If the filming team is only trying to please Paik, the on-set authority naturally shifts to him."

Kim alleged that behind the scenes, Paik would remove cast members he did not like, which producers had to apologise for on behalf of the chef. 

“Most stars are cautious when it comes to staff issues – but Paik was different. Once word got out that he had a close relationship with the TV executives, he got his way,” the former producer added. 

But not all of Paik’s staff share the same sentiment. Another producer from My Little Television told South Korean newspaper Hankook Ilbo that there was no abuse of power when they worked together and that both the crew and Paik had put in significant effort to ensure the show’s success.

Despite the backlash, Paik is still scheduled to appear in the second season of Netflix’s Culinary Class Wars, with filming reportedly already underway, as well as in the third season of South Korean TV network tvN’s The Genius Paik, where he opens Korean restaurants in foreign countries where few people know his name or Korean cuisine. 

His upcoming show Chef Of Antarctica is also set for release this year.