A restaurant owner in her 50s, identified as Ms. A, has been sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years, and fined 10 million won for fraudulently selling stew made with Chinese kimchi as domestic, thereby gaining hundreds of millions of won in illicit profits.

Ms. A was indicted on charges of selling stew made with Chinese kimchi, falsely labeled as domestic, at her restaurant in Gimje, North Jeolla Self-Governing Province, from September 2018 to January 2024. Investigations revealed that she regularly received deliveries of Chinese kimchi, purchasing a total of 11,200kg.

The illicit profits Ms. A gained from selling the stew made with Chinese kimchi are estimated to be around 179 million won. Additionally, she was found to have deceived consumers by falsely labeling the origin of bean sprouts used in the stew as domestic.

The court stated, "Misrepresenting the origin of agricultural and marine products as domestic disrupts the distribution order, betrays consumers' legitimate expectations for domestic food products, and harms fair trade for producers, causing significant social harm."

However, the court also considered that Ms. A is a first-time offender with no prior criminal record and took into account various factors revealed in the arguments and records of the case when determining the sentence.

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