YouTuber fails samgyeopsal eating challenge, sparks police call after refusing to pay

A man who failed a mukbang eating challenge at a restaurant sparked a dispute after refusing to pay his bill, a story that has since drawn public attention.

The incident was reported to JTBC's crime affairs program "Sageon Banjang" by A, who runs a barbecue restaurant in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province.

A's restaurant offers a challenge in which customers who finish 3 kilograms of flower samgyeopsal within 100 minutes eat for free and receive a 100,000 won ($72) cash prize. Those who fail must pay around 200,000 won for the meal.

A man contacted the restaurant on Aug. 14 to sign up for the challenge, paid a 10,000 won deposit and showed up at the restaurant. He also ordered a bowl of mul naengmyeon and three drinks.

He told A, "I'm a YouTuber — is it OK if I film? Please subscribe to my channel. I recently succeeded at a ramyun mukbang challenge," expressing confidence before he began.

He ate quickly at first, but his pace slowed as time went on. He ultimately gave up after failing to finish the 3 kilograms within the time limit.

A said she found vomit in the bathroom the man had used, and that a paper cup he had requested appeared to contain food he had chewed and spat out.

Having failed the challenge, the man owed 200,000 won for the meat, 8,000 won for the naengmyeon and 6,000 won for three drinks — a total of 214,000 won. After deducting the 10,000 won deposit, he needed to pay 204,000 won on the spot.

He presented a card and said he wanted to pay in three monthly installments, but the payment repeatedly failed to go through. It turned out the card was a debit card, not a credit card. The man then said he would go to a nearby convenience store to load money onto the card.

When A asked whether he had another card, the man said he only had 83,000 won in his bank account and showed her his account balance to prove it.

A called the police. When officers arrived, the man told them, "I had no intention of skipping out on the bill. The 80 million won in my account is in a fixed-term savings plan — I can't touch it now. I can withdraw it in three years." He later added that he would take out a loan to pay.

The man lingered inside the restaurant for some time before transferring the remaining 121,000 won and leaving. After he was gone, a box of vitamin drinks and a handwritten note were found at his table.

"I came out of the kitchen and saw a box of vitamin drinks the customer had left behind," A said. "On the box was a note that read: 'I'm sorry for the commotion earlier. My part-time pay just came in and it's been sorted out.'"

A said the incident prompted her to change how the challenge is run — she plans to collect full payment upfront from challengers going forward.