Controversy Over "Samgyeopsal Fat Terror"... Jeju Governor Oh Young-hoon Pledges "Prevention and Supervision"

Jeju Governor Oh Young-hoon has announced measures to prevent the recurrence of the so-called 'fatty pork belly' sales controversy at a famous Jeju restaurant.

The condition of samgyeopsal sold at a famous meat restaurant in Jeju. [Image source=Online community capture]

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On the 2nd, Yonhap News reported that Jeju Province and Seogwipo City decided to conduct on-site investigations targeting about 70 pork specialty restaurants and livestock product distribution companies in Jeju regarding the 'fatty pork belly' controversy. Governor Oh stated at a press briefing, "The hygiene-related departments have the authority to supervise and guide restaurants, so we are considering internally strengthening publicity to prevent such issues during that process and have already started inspections." He added, "We are currently reviewing the necessity of strengthening supervision and guidance in the livestock sector internally." However, Governor Oh also noted, "It is difficult to excessively intervene in issues related to business operations conducted by private entities regarding cooking," and "Differences in food culture should also be taken into account."

Earlier, on the 29th, a post titled "I’m so angry I can’t sleep (Don’t go to Jeju Island)" was uploaded on an online community. The author, Mr. A, who has been living in Jeju for a year, publicized that he visited a famous pork belly restaurant in Jeju and was served pork belly with a high fat content. Mr. A claimed, "I will talk about eating 150,000 KRW pork belly that was over 98% fat," and posted a photo of the pork belly he ate at the time. He added, "I received mostly fatty meat and complained to the staff, but the staff said, 'This is a relatively high meat ratio,' and took no further action."

As the controversy grew, the restaurant owner, Mr. B, posted an apology on the online community on the 30th of last month, saying, "Regardless of the situation, reasons, or facts at the time, I sincerely apologize for the unsatisfactory parts," and "If the staff I trusted responded, I consider it as if I responded myself." He continued, "I feel very sorry for the customers who visited and for many people currently working hard in Jeju’s self-employed sector who may have been directly or indirectly affected by this incident." He promised, "If the affected customers contact us, we will compensate them in a way that satisfies them as much as possible, and for the next month, we will provide an additional 200g of Ogyeopsal to all customers visiting the store." He also added measures to prevent recurrence, such as more thorough inspection of meat selection and preparation processes. However, Mr. A responded coldly, saying no compensation was necessary despite the owner’s apology.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs created and distributed a 'Pork Belly Quality Management Manual' in October last year, which includes recommended fat content standards for pork belly. According to the manual, it is recommended that the fat thickness for small-packaged Samgyeopsal be less than 1 cm and for Ogyeopsal less than 1.5 cm. It also recommends removing or discarding excessively fatty parts. However, even recently, pork belly with excessive fat content has frequently appeared, leading to criticism that the manual is merely a recommendation without enforcement.

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