BROADCASTER Jung Hyung-don is back in the pork cutlet business. The TV personality opened his first donkkaseu restaurant in Seoulâs Seongsu-dong on October 12 â 13 years after a labeling scandal sank his once-booming brand.
According to Herald Business, Jung held a soft launch yesterday, with a full public opening scheduled for October 15. Historian Shim Yong-hwan attended the opening ceremony and promoted the new spot on social media the same day.
Shim described the menu as cheap yet hearty, singling out a stir-fried kimchi and pork cutlet combo as the stand-out item, alongside a cutlet paired with tteokbokki and a novel black-battered cutlet. âIâve been friends with this guy for 10 years,â Shim wrote, cheering on a business built by a man he called deep-hearted and shy.
Jung launched âDoni Doni Donkkaseuâ in 2011 and sold roughly 10 million packs within a year on home shopping, without a physical store. But in 2013, the manufacturer was indicted without detention for falsely labeling pork loin content and the fine was finalized â dragging Jung into the controversy.
In a 2017 interview, Jung said the problem was labeling weight without excluding moisture, and claimed: âI heard we became a sacrificial lamb in a targeted investigationâ into bad food, one of the âfour evilsâ crackdowns under the Park Geun-hye administration.
He quietly restarted the business this past April through home shopping. The Seongsu restaurant is now his first physical storefront â the real test of his comeback.
