Shocking Hygiene Scandal: Restaurant Reuses Ice from Trash in Seoul’s Gwangjang Market!
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[iNews24 reporter Kim Hyo-jin] A recent report says a restaurant employee at Seoul’s Gwangjang Market — a place frequently at the center of overcharging allegations — was observed reusing ice taken from a trash bin.
On the 2nd, JTBC’s ‘Incident Desk’ reported that a tipster identified as A watched from a nearby café as a restaurant employee rummaged through a trash bin and retrieved a plastic drink cup filled with ice.
The employee rinsed the ice roughly twice, then stored it in a styrofoam box. The tipster said the worker then cooked with the same hands that had touched the trash bin.
What surprised A even more came a short time later: another employee opened the styrofoam box, removed the ice, and piled it on top of prepared fish.
A said, \”Even considering the market’s hygiene conditions, reusing ice taken from a trash bin in a restaurant is unacceptable.\”
The restaurant owner told ‘Incident Desk’ by phone that he had only instructed staff to tidy discarded drinks at the bin so they wouldn’t spill on the ground, and that he had given no other orders.
He added, \”I never told anyone to reuse ice, nor was such an instruction given to me. Perhaps an employee reused it because they didn’t want to waste it.\”
Earlier last month, authorities suspended operations by a street vendor at Gwangjang Market after the vendor sold a bottle of water to a foreign customer for 2,000 KRW (about $1.50).
When a foreign YouTuber living in Korea asked for water, the vendor handed over a 500 ml (about 16.9 fl oz) bottle and said it cost 2,000 KRW (about $1.50). A video of the exchange uploaded to YouTube sparked accusations of overcharging.
At the end of last year, a YouTuber ordered soondae (Korean blood sausage) priced at 8,000 KRW (about $6.00) at Gwangjang Market. The stall owner allegedly added meat the customer had not ordered and then demanded 10,000 KRW (about $7.50).
The Gwangjang Market merchants’ association imposed a 10-day suspension on the vendor.
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