Tag: restaurants

Korean Olympic Gold Medalist Calls Japanese Restaurant Owner a Traitor to Korea

| March 21, 2024

I fail to see how opening a Japanese restaurant in South Korea makes someone a traitor:

Korean archer An San, who won three gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics in Japan in 2021, caused a stir with an online post that described a Japanese-themed restaurant as a “traitor to the nation.” The restaurant owner accused the Olympian’s remark of wrongly branding his business as being a pro-Japanese collaborator.

The 23-year-old shared a photo of a signboard saying “international departures” bound to Japan on Instagram Saturday, with a comment that read “How come there are so many traitors to the nation in Korea.”

The photo is no longer available, as it was an Instagram Story that disappeared 24 hours after upload.

The sign in An’s post was part of the entrance to a Japan-themed restaurant at a shopping mall’s food complex in the southwestern city of Gwangju, where a Japanese hot pot pub brand created and operated by Koreans is in business.

An’s post triggered online users to harass the business owner, who ended up uploading a letter of plea to end the controversy.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but if someone opens a Chinese restaurant are they traitors too? Or how about a Korean operating a McDonald’s? Are they also traitors?

Tokyo Restaurant Takes You On Flights Around the World

| March 18, 2024

The next time I am in Tokyo I have to check this place out:

Travel enthusiasts living in Japan can “visit” another country at First Airlines, a restaurant that uses virtual reality technology to transport customers to a variety of destinations. First Airlines, on the eighth floor of Parkheim West in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro district, re-creates the experience of an international flight right down to walking the streets of a foreign city. The restaurant foyer simulates the waiting area at an airport gate, complete with a flight information display and a departure counter.

A person dressed as a gate agent greets guests and hands them a boarding pass and a make-believe Japanese passport stamped with the name of their destination. I booked a first-class “flight” to Rome. Other flights are available to Germany, Spain, New Zealand, Finland, France, Ukraine, Hawaii and New York City. The experience is two hours long with a three-course meal. Once customers are checked in, a “flight attendant” guides them to their seats; the restaurant is built to resemble an aircraft interior, with actual seats from Airbus 310 and 340 airliners.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Lee Jae-myung Wants to Limit the Number of Restaurants in South Korea

| October 29, 2021

Someone needs to give Presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung a lesson in capitalism:

Ruling Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung purchases persimmons at a traditional market in Gwanak District, Seoul, Wednesday. Joint Press Corps

Ruling Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung stirred controversy with his idea of putting a cap on the number of restaurants in the country, which the main opposition party described as “a totalitarian idea.”

During his visit to a traditional market in Gwanak District, Seoul, Wednesday, Lee floated the idea, saying, “I have a thought of running a system that puts a cap on the number of restaurants.”

Lee mentioned the idea while expressing concerns over the large number of people opening eateries, only to close them down after failing to make ends meet.

“Though debate is required for this idea, I think the system is necessary,” Lee said during a meeting with stall owners at the market. “I wasn’t able to introduce the system due to concerns that it could infringe on freedom, but I don’t think such a cap is a bad idea … It is not freedom to open restaurants randomly and go broke. Good regulations are needed.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Korean Adoptee Deported From the US Finds Success With Mexican Restaurant In Seoul

| February 8, 2017

The Joong Ang Ilbo has a pretty interesting story about a Korean-American who was deported from the US after a number of gang and drug related arrests.  He turned his life around in Korea by opening a Mexican restaurant where he cooks food that his grandmother from his third foster family taught him how to cook:

Kim and his wife, Kendra Jeong, co-run El Pino 323 in Mapo District, western Seoul, a Mexican restaurant. El Pino is the name of a pine tree near his grandmother’s house; 323 is the area code of East L.A. [PARK SANG-MOON]
June 18, 2002 was a momentous day for Korea. In a World Cup match held in Daejeon, the national football team defeated Italy 2 to 1, propelling it into the quarterfinals for the first time ever.

It was a momentous day for Kim Dong-hwa too – the worst in a life of continuous lows. Kim and his sister had been abandoned by their Korean mother in infancy. As small children, they were flown from Korea to the U.S. to live with a new mother and father. The adoption didn’t take. The pair bounced around, were physically and emotionally abused. Kim ended up running with a gang in East Los Angeles. In his 20s, he was convicted of gang related crimes.

Kim was expelled from the U.S. and sent to a native land he knew nothing about. He landed on the day of Korea’s victory over Italy.

Kim recalls his first glimpses of Seoul driving in from Incheon International Airport. “It was a sea of red,” he says. The national team’s uniforms were red and fans wore red to support them and celebrate.

“It was chaos here. I thought my mind was going to blow up.

“I thought I was in North Korea.”  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

I recommend reading the rest at the link because it is a great story to read about.  Kim definitely did find a good nitch to open a restaurant for because Seoul has long been lacking in quality Mexican restaurants.

Korean-American Criticized for Posting Racist Help Wanted Sign

| February 4, 2017

Via a reader tip comes this news about a Korean-American man in South Carolina who accidentally posted a racist help wanted sign at his wife’s restaurant and is now under attack by critics:

A South Carolina restaurant owner which caused outrage after it placed a ‘Help Wanted’ sign in its window along with the message ‘minorities need not apply’ has apologized for her mistake.

Kenny’s Home Cooking in Spartanburg placed the sign in the window seeking more staff, although when diners noticed the message at the bottom they posted photographs on the internet.

The sign had the racist message written in both English and Spanish.

However, the restaurant’s owner, who is Japanese, claimed any offense was unintentional as they purchased the sign on eBay and did not understand the messages at the bottom.

Owner Sook ‘Sue’ Shin told WYFF News: ‘I never ever meant that, so I’m really sorry.’

A friend claimed they mistook the word ‘minorities’ for ‘minors’.

Shin’s husband, who is Korean, purchased the sign on eBay.  [The Daily Mail]

You can read more at the link, but I can easily understand how someone who uses English as a second language can make this mistake.  However, it hasn’t stopped people from expressing their outrage at the owners.  It seems to me the real racists are the ones criticizing this couple for not understanding English better.

Chinese Tourists Brutally Attack Restaurant Owner On Jeju Island

| September 15, 2016

This is a pretty bad attack considering this woman has signs of bleeding in her brain:

Eight Chinese tourists on Jeju Island were arrested Saturday for allegedly attacking and injuring four Koreans, including a restaurant owner who stopped them drinking alcohol they brought from outside. / Courtesy of YouTube
Eight Chinese tourists on Jeju Island were arrested Saturday for allegedly attacking and injuring four Koreans, including a restaurant owner who stopped them drinking alcohol they brought from outside. / Courtesy of YouTube

Police have arrested eight Chinese tourists on Jeju Island for allegedly bashing four Koreans, including a restaurant owner.

The tourists ― six men and two women ― were arrested Saturday for allegedly assaulting and injuring the Korean restaurant owner and three others, Jeju Seobu Police Station said on Monday.

The incident happened at the restaurant in the Yeondong district of Jeju.

Police said the tourists became angry when the restaurant owner, surnamed Ahn, 53, stopped them from drinking alcohol they had brought with them. They had placed their order but then decided to leave.

The tourists allegedly attacked the owner when she asked them to pay for the food. Police said they kicked her in the stomach and attempted to attack her with a bottle of alcohol.

The tourists were also accused of beating three others in the restaurant who tried to stop them, including Ahn’s son.

Ahn is being treated in hospital after signs of bleeding into her brain. Another victim is suffering facial fractures. [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but I wonder if the Chinese embassy will get involved and do everything they can to protect these thugs from being punished like they did when Chinese went on a rampage in Seoul in 2008 brutally beating Koreans in the streets.