Why a Seongnam Chinese restaurant used Xi Jinping's name — and paid the price

"We've used the name for 8 years … no problem when we registered"

Restaurant also faced an unfair-competition probe, which was closed without action

The exterior of a Chinese restaurant in Bundang, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, is seen covered in lacquer and paint on Thursday after an overnight vandalism attack. All four suspects in the so-called "lacquer terror" attack have been identified as Chinese nationals who fled to China on the day of the incident, prompting police to seek international judicial cooperation. [Provided by victim/Yonhap]

The owner of a Chinese restaurant in Bundang, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province — targeted in an overnight vandalism attack by Chinese nationals who broke in and sprayed lacquer throughout the premises — has explained why the restaurant bears the name of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The owner, identified only as A, told Yonhap on Sunday that the restaurant had operated under the name for eight years. "Since Xi Jinping is China's top leader, we chose the name with the idea of becoming the best in Chinese cuisine," A said.

The exterior of a Chinese restaurant in Bundang-gu, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, is seen covered in black lacquer and paint on Thursday. Police have identified four Chinese male suspects believed to have broken into the restaurant and damaged fixtures and equipment, and are currently tracking them down. [Provided by reader/Yonhap]

A said there was no intent to mock or demean the Chinese president.

"When we filed the business registration with the district office, there was no problem, so we just kept using it," A added.

According to A, the name had been used without incident for years until complaints began mounting ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit held in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, on Oct. 31 last year.

The interior of a Chinese restaurant in Bundang, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, is seen covered in lacquer and paint on Thursday after an overnight vandalism attack. All four suspects in the so-called "lacquer terror" attack have been identified as Chinese nationals who fled to China on the day of the incident, prompting police to seek international judicial cooperation. [Provided by victim/Yonhap]

The complaints began arriving ahead of Xi's planned visit to South Korea for the summit.

"Starting around July or August last year, just before the APEC summit, protests suddenly started coming in," A said. "I received 30 to 40 phone calls from different people. Some even offered large sums of money to change the name, but none of them actually paid."

Of those who called or visited in person to complain, only one or two were ethnic Koreans of Chinese descent; the rest were South Korean nationals, A said.

After that, things were quiet until around 2 a.m. on July 21, roughly two months before a US-China summit at the White House, when two men believed to be Chinese nationals painted the restaurant's sign black and fled.

Police launched an investigation at the time but failed to apprehend the suspects.

Then, at around 2:40 a.m. on Thursday — the first day of the chuseok holiday — four Chinese nationals in their 20s to 40s broke into the restaurant, sprayed lacquer throughout the interior and doused ingredients in a refrigerator with an unidentified substance believed to be pesticide before fleeing.

Police said one of the four suspects had entered South Korea on a tourist visa a month before the attack, while the other three arrived a week prior. After the incident, all four left through Incheon International Airport and scattered to separate destinations in China, including Yantai and Shanghai.

Police said they believe the attack was either organized or premeditated, citing the fact that the suspects chose a day when the restaurant would be closed for the holiday, and that interior CCTV footage showed them filming the attack with their mobile phones.

Police said they plan to pursue the suspects through international judicial cooperation, starting by requesting that relevant authorities notify them if the suspects attempt to re-enter South Korea.

The restaurant had also undergone an unfair-competition investigation by the Korea Intellectual Property Office in May after an anonymous complaint was filed, according to JTBC.

In an official document sent to the restaurant in April, the unidentified complainant alleged that the establishment had been "using the name of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is widely known at home and abroad, as its business name since 2018 to gain unfair profit." The complainant also noted that the president's name appeared on menu items such as "Xi Jinping special rice," and raised the possibility of a violation of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act.

The Korea Intellectual Property Office investigated the complaint and requested supporting documentation from the restaurant, but ultimately closed the case after finding no legal violation.

The person who filed that complaint is believed to be a different individual from the suspects in Thursday's attack.

Meanwhile, the owner has decided to temporarily close the restaurant to clean up the interior, and plans to reopen under a new name.

jshan@heraldcorp.com