"Soldiers Pay 3,000 Won More" Netizens Buzz Over Unlimited Refill BBQ Controversy

Adult 16,900 won, 'Gunjangbyeong' 19,900 won
Restaurant says "Soldiers eat five servings each" complaint

Recently, heartwarming news has been circulating about acts of kindness toward military personnel who sacrifice for national defense. However, a meat buffet restaurant in Gyeonggi-do has come under fire from netizens after it was revealed that the restaurant charges an additional 3,000 KRW only to military personnel.

On the 13th, dozens of posts and comments criticizing the extra charge for military personnel were posted on various online communities along with photos of the restaurant's menu.

According to the revealed menu photo, the restaurant charges 16,900 KRW for adults, 10,000 KRW for children aged 7 to 9, and 8,000 KRW for children aged 4 to 6, but uniquely charges military personnel 19,900 KRW.

Recently, heartwarming news has been spreading about acts of kindness toward soldiers sacrificing for national defense. However, it has come to light that an all-you-can-eat meat restaurant in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, has been charging soldiers an additional 3,000 won, drawing criticism from netizens.
[Photo source=Online Community]

Among past reviews left by customers, one mentioned, "If there is even one soldier at a table, they automatically charge the military personnel price for everyone at the table without asking."

As this fact became known, netizens expressed strong reactions by conducting 'star rating attacks' against the restaurant on various platforms.

"How can they discriminate against soldiers instead of supporting them more?", "They see soldiers as easy targets," "If they are going to charge differently like this, they shouldn't be in the all-you-can-eat business," were among the negative comments.

On the other hand, some netizens defended the restaurant, saying, "Restaurants that give discounts to soldiers should be praised, so why criticize those that don't?", "I understand the owner's perspective as a business operator," and "Even charging that price to soldiers probably doesn't leave any profit."

Sharp Rise in Meat Prices This Year Due to Supply-Demand Imbalance

This year, due to supply and demand imbalances caused by infectious diseases such as lumpy skin disease and African swine fever, the prices of beef and pork have risen sharply. The photo is not related to the specific content of the article.
Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

As the controversy spread, the restaurant owner, Mr. A, explained in an interview with Yonhap News TV, "We tried not to differentiate prices as much as possible and even took losses for four years," adding, "But soldiers eat about five servings per person and leave."

Mr. A continued, "Since we have kids around the same age, we told them to eat a lot, but after enduring it for a while, it became unbearable. We really don't make any profit even if we sell. Mr. A lamented that due to the sharp increase in meat costs this year, there was no choice."

As Mr. A explained, due to infectious diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease, lumpy skin disease, and African swine fever causing supply-demand imbalances, prices of beef and pork have risen sharply this year.

Since signs of foot-and-mouth disease began to spread in May, prices of livestock products such as beef and pork started to fluctuate. According to the Livestock Products Quality Evaluation Institute's livestock distribution information, the average wholesale price of Korean beef was 16,058 KRW per kilogram as of May 18, up 7.1% from 14,999 KRW on May 10, before the outbreak.

The wholesale price of pork was 6,380 KRW per kilogram on May 11, when foot-and-mouth disease first occurred, up 19.1% from 5,356 KRW on April 12 a month earlier. Although it stabilized to 5,928 KRW per kilogram on May 18, consumer prices surged to 26,340 KRW per kilogram.

Later, in October, the occurrence of lumpy skin disease caused beef wholesale prices to rise again. As of the 30th day since the outbreak of lumpy skin disease in the country on the 18th of last month, the wholesale price of Korean beef was 17,904 KRW per kilogram, an 11.4% increase compared to the foot-and-mouth disease period.

For now, with structural changes such as an increase in the number of animals available for slaughter and inventory levels, livestock product prices are expected to stabilize next year compared to this year. However, price volatility remains significant.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.