An agricultural corporation jointly invested by BTS’s Jin and The Borne CEO Baek Jong Won has been referred to prosecution for allegedly violating the country’s original labeling laws.
The Yesan Office of the Chungnam Branch of the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service confirmed that it recently transferred Baeksuldolga (formerly Yesandonga) and one of its associates to the Hongseong Branch of the Daejeon District Prosecutor’s Office for charges of violating the Country of Origin Labeling Act.
Baeksuldoga, the seller of the IGIN Highball Tonic series, was found to have consistently labeled the Plum and Watermelon products sold online as domestically produced, despite the use of imported concentrates (from Chile and the U.S.).
The two corporations share the same CEO, Jin and Baek Jong Won, who jointly invested in the establishment.
The accuser stated in the complaint that, “Jin, as an artist with global influence, must accept a heavy moral responsibility, regardless of legal liability, for the alleged violation of the country of original labeling act by a corporation in which he invested and participated.”
The National Agricultural Cooperative Federation stated, “Agricultural corporations for online sales can only label domestically manufactured and processed products as domestically produced if all raw materials, excluding water, alcohol, sugar, and food additives, are domestically produced.”
They added, “We reviewed whether the company violated the origin labeling laws, including the validity of the information, which could lead to confusion.”
Netizens were shocked to find out that he wasn’t just a model, but also an investor.
- “So he wasn’t just a model…”
- “It’s already bad enough doing a liquor business, but doing it with Baek is…”
- “Label of origin is the standard…they should be doing their work properly.”
- “Not surprised.”
- “Although they say it’s an online site issue, I never understood why they even bothered to do business together. I thought it was a one-time thing, but I didn’t know they’d be running a business with it.”
- “Ah…I don’t know anymore.”
