Baek Jong-won, CEO of The Born Korea. [Yonhap]
Baek Jong-won, CEO of The Born Korea. [Yonhap]

A man who says he sold daepae samgyeopsal — thinly shaved frozen pork belly — as far back as 1983 has stepped forward to dispute restaurateur Baek Jong-won's claim that he invented the dish in 1993, reigniting a debate over who originated one of South Korea's most popular grilled-pork dishes. A court has also previously ruled that Baek cannot be considered the dish's original creator.

YouTuber Kim Jae-hwan, a former MBC producer, posted a video Friday in which he met Ryu Su-deok, the founder who said he built Busan's Choryang Hwaseong Galbi into a franchise operation.

Ryu pushed back sharply against Baek's claim. "I was already in business in 1983 — that's nonsense," he said.

A business-closure certificate Ryu produced listed the opening date of his establishment as February 1984, but he said that date reflected a one-year lag introduced during the annual value-added tax filing process, placing his actual start in 1983.

Ryu said he did not invent thinly sliced frozen pork belly itself — the style was already gaining popularity in the Busan and Masan areas at the time. What he did was give it a name.

He recalled buying a secondhand Japanese meat slicer and noticing that the pork belly curled into a roll as it was cut thin. Customers, he said, were the ones who first used the word "daepae" — meaning a woodworking plane — to describe the curled slices.

"Customers would come in and say 'daepae,'" Ryu said.

Also appearing in the video was Kang Gyeong-ho, who said he began operating a Choryang Hwaseong Galbi franchise around 1991 and opened seven locations in Busan alone. He said the menu name "daepae samgyeop" was already in use at the time and was written on the restaurant walls.

When the production team asked what Choryang Hwaseong Galbi had sold back then, Kang said: "Daepae samgyeop and pork galbi."

Choryang Hwaseong Galbi continues to sell daepae samgyeopsal today.

Kim, who produced the video, said Baek had "touched something he shouldn't have," adding that what Baek had claimed was "not just a single menu item but the memories of a generation's youth."

Baek has said in past broadcasts that around 1993 he accidentally purchased the wrong meat slicer, which produced thin, curled pork belly slices, and that a customer's remark that they looked like wood shavings — "daepat-bap" — inspired the name "daepae samgyeopsal." The Born Korea's website had previously described the dish as having been developed by Baek in 1993.

Last month, however, the Anyang Branch of Suwon District Court ruled against a Born Korea franchisee who had filed a damages suit against Kim.

The court said thin grilled pork belly known as "daepae samgyeopsal" appeared to have already been popular in Busan from the late 1980s, and found it difficult to regard Baek as the dish's original creator.


yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com