Paik Jong-won’s claim to be the original creator of thin-sliced pork belly is shaken again as a 1983 founder emerges: "He sure likes to call it development"

[Sportschosun, Reporter Kim Jun-seok] As controversy continues over Paik Jong-won’s claim that he was the original creator of thin-sliced pork belly, the founder of a restaurant that says it sold the dish in Busan as early as 1983, 10 years before Paik’s version, has come forward.

On the 14th, a video titled "I Met the Founder of Choryang Hwashung Galbi, a Thin-Sliced Pork Belly Franchise That Began in the 1980s" was uploaded to producer Kim Jae-hwan’s YouTube channel, "Kim Jae-hwan’s Ojaena."

In the video, producer Kim Jae-hwan met directly with Ryu Soo-deok, the founder of Choryang Hwashung Galbi, who said he had sold thin-sliced pork belly in Busan in the past and even operated a franchise.

A certificate of closure released by Ryu listed the restaurant’s opening date as 1984. However, Ryu explained that it was registered as 1984 during the value-added tax filing process, and that actual business began in 1983.

In particular, Ryu directly challenged Paik’s claim that he developed thin-sliced pork belly in 1993, saying, "He sure likes to call it development. I was already running the business in 1983. That makes no sense."

According to Kim, Ryu began selling thinly sliced pork belly in 1983 after introducing gas to the restaurant. He said this style of pork belly was already very popular in the Masan and Busan areas at the time.

Within a year of opening, Ryu also bought a used Japanese meat slicer and built a system that allowed him to mass-produce thin pork belly quickly.

As for the origin of the name "dwaepae," Ryu said he did not personally coin it. Instead, customers naturally began calling it that.

The business later expanded further. Ryu said he operated franchise locations in major Busan neighborhoods including Yeonsan-dong, PNU, Daeyeon-dong, Bupyeong-dong and Nampo-dong.

The video also featured Kang Kyung-ho, who said he ran a Choryang Hwashung Galbi franchise in 1991. Kang testified that the menu item was already called "dwaepae samgyeop" at the time, and that the same name was written on the restaurant wall.

This adds another claim that the term "dwaepae" and the practice of selling thinly sliced pork belly existed as much as 10 years before 1993, the year Paik is said to have developed thin-sliced pork belly.

Earlier, producer Kim had argued on his YouTube channel that thin-sliced pork belly was not first developed by Paik in 1993.

The dispute later escalated into a legal battle after franchisees of The BORN Korea filed a damages suit against Kim.

In connection with the case, the court last month also ruled in a way that made it difficult to regard Paik as the original developer of thin-sliced pork belly.

Paik registered the trademark for "thin-sliced pork belly" in 1998, but the court said it was difficult to view him as the first developer of the dish, citing the fact that thinly sliced pork belly had already been popular in Busan since the 1980s.

narusi@sportschosun.com

This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.