[A screenshot captured from YTN news footage]
Choi Ho-sig has been respected as a self-made man who nurtured a small unknown restaurant in a provincial city into one of South Korea's top fried chicken franchises in less than two decades.
The 63-year-old chairman of Hosigi Doomari Chicken often attributed his success to a "win-win" approach to co-exist and share profits with more than 900 partners of his chain. But he fell into disgrace overnight after a weekend dinner with a young office lady of his company in a Seoul sushi restaurant.
His name became Monday's day-long top online keyword, followed by numerous comments chastising him as a sexual molester. The online fuss came after a cable news network published CCTV footages showing Choi guiding a young woman into a hotel. He was later seen chasing the lady who threw herself into the backseat of a taxi after running out of the hotel. Choi tried to stop her but retreated after other women gathered around him.
The office lady filed a complaint with police, accusing Choi of sexual harassment, insisting she was able to escape thanks to other women who responded to her request for help in the hotel's lobby. A true story has yet to come because Choi insisted he just tried to reserve a hotel room because she was sick.
The case comes on the heels of Choi's efforts to set up an overseas sales network following the successful launch of the first outlet in Tokyo in 2015. Hosigi has expanded rapidly to be ranked third in terms of revenue after Kyochon and BBQ. In terms of consumer satisfaction, Choi's franchise stood top and Hosigi stores were guaranteed higher returns than rivals.
"This is very disgusting," said "greyfantasy", a user in one of the Daum web portal. Another user nicknamed Shimwooseok said, "I think the CEO is crazy. If the employee felt sick, he should have taken her to a hospital, not to a hotel room."
There were some cautious comments as the lady was seen holding Choi's arm when they walked into the hotel. Surveys showed that one in 10 female office workers experienced sexual harassment at work but many did not take action due to concerns about their own reputation and a negative impact on their career.
Lim Chang-won and Park Sae-jin
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
