Lee Su-hyun apologizes after honest dessert review sparks backlash

Lee Su-hyun of K-pop duo Akdong Musician found herself apologizing after an unfair controversy erupted over comments she made about Hanjeong-seon, a dessert brand that has recently surged in popularity.

Lee shared a video on her YouTube channel in which she tried Hanjeong-seon's offerings.

After tasting the dessert, she gave an honest assessment: "It's good, but I'm not sure it's worth a three-hour wait. It wasn't that special." She also mentioned that she does not usually eat desserts.

Some viewers characterized her remarks as a harsh pan, and a controversy followed.

In response, Lee addressed the backlash Saturday in a video titled "Surprise vlog: making the princess who ate Hanjeong-seon go running," published on the YouTube channel "Meong Coach."

"Everyone, Hanjeong-seon was delicious. Our fans all know I'm not really into sweets. I don't really like tteok either," she said. "Even so, it was something I wanted to try at least once."

She added, "When I tried it, it was good — it just wasn't an entirely new flavor or anything like that. The staff I shared it with all really enjoyed it." She then said, "I'm upset that it came across that way. I'm sorry, Hanjeong-seon. That's not what I meant."

Customers wait in line at a GS25 store in Gangnam, Seoul, for a preview event for the Hanjeong-seon yogurt chapssal-tteok held Aug. 28. [GS25]

Hanjeong-seon had drawn a similar reaction Friday, when broadcaster Joo Woo-jae featured the brand on his YouTube channel "Today's Joo Woo-jae."

In the video, Joo and Jang Won-young tried Hanjeong-seon together, after which Joo said, "It's good, but I'm not sure I'd go stand in line for it. 'Delicious' and 'special' are two different things." Jang agreed, saying, "If I'm being honest, I'd have to say I agree."

When the production crew revealed they had arrived early in the morning and waited three hours to buy the product, Joo quipped, "You waited three hours? I could wait three minutes."

Hanjeong-seon is a brand at the center of a recent tteok craze sweeping the dessert market, with fruit-filled glutinous rice cakes as its signature item. It began selling in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, in 2023 and has since become widely known, even collaborating with convenience stores to release its own products.

paq@heraldcorp.com