Mr.Pizza Chairman Jung Woo-hyun makes a public apology in a statement posted on the company's official website. [Courtesy of Mr. Pizza]
The founder of South Korea's major pizza chain made an apology Tuesday in response to public anger flared over his alleged assault against a building night watchman.
"I sincerely extend my apology," Jung Woo-Hyun, chairman of Mr. Pizza Korea (MPK) Group, said in a statement posted on the company's homepage. "That's all my fault," he said, blaming himself for his wrong behavior.
Jung did not disclose details, but online news reports said he slapped the night watchman, identified only by his surname Hwang, in the face Saturday night for closing the shutters of the building's main entrance without checking whether he was still inside.
The incident took place at 10:30 pm (1330 GMT) after Jung dined and wined at a new MPK restaurant in the building. Hwang was summoned into the restaurant and apologized saying he didn't know the chairman was still inside, but his apology did not work to appease Jung's anger.
Hwang allegedly told investigators that he had just followed a manual to close the building's main entrance at 10 pm.
Jung, who founded the pizza chain in 1990, faces a criminal investigation after a civic group filed a complaint with prosecutors.
MPK is a restaurant group based on a handmade muffin and coffee franchise, Italian buffet restaurants, and a premium pizza chain with hundreds of outlets at home and abroad. Its sales fell 15 percent on-year to 122 billion won (106 million US dollars) last year due to competition.
Misconduct by South Korea's rich elites has often made headlines. Some have received heavy jail terms, only for them to be pardoned or released on parole on grounds that they were deemed too important to the country's economy to be kept behind bars.
Public anger, however, surged after a "nut rage" incident involving Korean Air vice president Cho Hyun-ah in December 2014 that followed a slew of incidents involving group owners and their offsprings.
Cho became enraged when a flight attendant served her some nuts in a bag, rather than on a plate, on board a flight that was forced back to the gate while taxiing to the runway.
She was arrested and given a twelve-month prison sentence on conviction of violating aviation safety laws, but an appeals court overturned the conviction, allowing her to walk free in May last year after serving five months in jail.
Monggo Foods, a major producer of soy sauce has seen its business crashing after its founder, Kim Man-sik, was found to habitually abused his driver verbally and physically. Many took it as a typical example of bad behaviors by group owners.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
