Prosecutors Close Case Against Paik Jong-won Over Origin Labeling Allegations Without Indictment

The investigation into allegations that Paik Jong-won, CEO of Theborn Korea, falsely labeled product origins has been closed with prosecutors' decision not to indict him. False origin labeling refers to marking a product's country of origin inaccurately, which constitutes consumer deception.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's Criminal Division 2 (headed by Chief Prosecutor Lee Joo-hee) concluded on the 16th that it was difficult to establish violations of the Food Labeling and Advertising Act against Paik and decided not to indict him. However, the prosecutors indicted Theborn Korea as a corporation and Mr. A, an employee in the distribution business team's home shopping division in charge of the 'deopjuk' (rice bowl) product, finding that they had intentionally engaged in false advertising.

The case originated in March of last year. The Seoul Gangnam Police Station launched an investigation after receiving a complaint and petition alleging that Theborn Korea used Vietnamese farm-raised shrimp in its deopjuk products while describing them as 'wild-caught' in advertisements.

The police questioned Paik as a suspect for about five hours, and in October of that year cleared him of the charges without forwarding the case, while referring Theborn Korea and Mr. A of the home shopping division to the prosecution. Following an objection filed by the complainant, a reinvestigation was conducted. After securing and analyzing Theborn Korea's internal business documents, police concluded that the deopjuk advertisement had been approved solely through the sign-off of a junior employee. Prosecutors, after supplementary investigation, also determined there was no evidence that Paik was directly involved in the advertisement.

Theborn Korea and the employee in charge were also referred to prosecutors on charges of misleading consumers into believing the ingredients of Paik's Coffee 'Chewy Sweet Potato Bread' were domestically sourced, but prosecutors cleared both of all charges.

Both the police and prosecutors concluded that the charges against Paik were difficult to establish, while the trial of Theborn Korea and Mr. A of the home shopping division continues.