“We don’t wash the radishes ourselves, so you can enjoy the food without worrying.”

A restaurant selling jokbal, braised pig’s trotters, in Bangbae-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul ignited controversy after the release of a video showing an employee washing the radishes with a sponge he used to wash his feet. After the restaurant was identified, nearby restaurants are suffering from the aftermath.

On August 2, the doors of the restaurant, Bangbae Jokbal was closed shut after the Seocho-gu Office suspended business operations at the restaurant for a month due to the insanitary management of the restaurant. The jokbal and bossam (boiled pork) restaurant across the street posted the words above in response to the administrative measure by the gu office.

Bak, a thirty-something man who owns the nearby restaurant said, “As soon as news of the insanitary management of ingredients was released on July 28, we printed and posted the sign (informing the public that the radishes were not washed in the restaurant).” He continued and said, “We started business in April this year, and we can guarantee that our radish kimchi is clean since we receive the finished product from headquarters, but perhaps because of the nearby restaurant, the number of customers has dropped.”

This restaurant posted signs inside and outside the restaurant telling customers that there was no need to worry about their radishes. They also added the words, “Don’t worry,” in the food delivery platforms (applications). Bak said, “The number of orders for delivery clearly fell as well,” and added, “Customers who visit the restaurant can relax after reading the signs posted here and there, but it seems people using delivery apps often fail to see our notice.”

A, who has been running a jokbal restaurant in this neighborhood for nearly three decades said, “After all, you probably don’t want to eat jokbal with images from an insanitary video in your head,” and further said, “I think the jokbal restaurants nearby all suffered a blow to their image.”

Storeowners are letting out heavier sighs with the atmosphere in the Bangbae-dong restaurant street already gloomy due to the fourth wave of the novel coronavirus. Yi Tae-wun (57), who runs a barbecue restaurant said, “The incident occurred at a time when business was slow due to covid,” and added, “I’m worried that this may fuel the customers’ distrust in restaurants.”

Earlier, a video showing a man washing radishes in an insanitary way in a jokbal restaurant spread on social media. Eventually the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety launched an inspection. On July 27, the food ministry conducted a site inspection and discovered that not only did the restaurant manage its ingredients in an unhygienic way, it used ingredients past their expiration dates and also violated frozen food storage standards.

The Seocho-gu Office enforced an administrative order suspending operation at the restaurant for a month and imposing a fine of one million won. The food ministry is investigating overall business at the restaurant for any other insanitary practices.