Court rules daepae samgyeopsal was already popular in the '80s, rejecting Baek Jong-won's invention claim

A court has rejected The Born Korea chief executive Baek Jong-won's long-standing claim that he invented daepae samgyeopsal, the thinly shaved pork belly dish.

The Anyang Branch of Suwon District Court ruled against the plaintiff on June 25 in a damages suit filed by a Born Korea franchisee, identified only as A, against YouTuber and producer Kim Jae-hwan. Kim had repeatedly argued that Baek was not the originator of daepae samgyeopsal.

Baek has claimed through various channels — including on The Born Korea's official website — that he invented the dish in 1993. His account holds that he accidentally purchased a ham slicer instead of a meat cutter, and that when he used it to slice frozen pork belly, the meat curled into thin rolls resembling wood shavings planed by a carpenter's tool, inspiring the name "daepae" (대패, meaning plane). He registered "daepae samgyeopsal" as a trademark in 1998.

Kim, however, argued on YouTube that the dish had already been sold in cities including Busan and Gwangju before 1993. He identified long-established local restaurants in Busan, Masan, Gwangju and Cheongju that had sold pork belly under the name "daepae samgyeopsal" as far back as the 1980s.

Franchisee A sued Kim, claiming the YouTuber's allegations had damaged The Born Korea's brand value and caused a drop in sales.

The court found that "daepae samgyeopsal appears to have already been popular in Busan from the 1980s," adding that the dish "requires no special manufacturing process — slicing pork belly thinly with a meat cutter naturally produces the rolled shape."

The court also said it could not establish a link between Kim's videos and the franchisee's sales decline, noting that Baek had already been at the center of multiple controversies.

The court further found that Kim's allegations were made in the public interest.

The court dismissed the franchisee's claim and ordered the plaintiff to bear the legal costs.

The Born Korea said the lawsuit was "a personal legal action by a franchisee stemming from the YouTuber's malicious videos," adding that it was working on "appropriate protective measures to prevent repeated harm to franchisees."