Actor Lee Jang-woo's agency, Hoonus Entertainment, has issued an official statement regarding the controversy over unpaid food ingredient payments. On the 17th, Hoonus Entertainment expressed regret over misunderstandings caused by inaccurate information and stated that they will fully cooperate to resolve the matter amicably.

There were reports that Hoseokchon, a sundae soup restaurant in which Lee Jang-woo is a shareholder, failed to pay a livestock distribution company, Company A. Dispatch reported that Hoseokchon did not pay for pig heads and other by-products, causing losses to Company A. Mr. B, who operates Company A in Cheonan, Chungnam, claimed that while payments were made normally at the beginning of the transactions, payment delays occurred later, and the outstanding amount once reached 64 million KRW.

According to Dispatch, despite multiple reminders, only part of the amount was repaid, and currently, over 40 million KRW has been unpaid for eight months. In response, Hoonus Entertainment explained, "Hoseokchon has already paid the full delivery amount to Mujin Co., Ltd., the contracted business partner, and the problem arose because Mujin failed to pay Company A afterward."

Hoonus Entertainment emphasized, "There is no direct contractual relationship between Company A and Hoseokchon or Lee Jang-woo, and the reports suggesting that Lee Jang-woo did not pay the amount are not true." They also stated, "The claim in some reports that 'Mujin was the owner of Hoseokchon' is also false; Mujin has never held shares in Hoseokchon. Lee Jang-woo has no connection with Mujin either."

Hoonus Entertainment added, "However, we feel a moral responsibility for not sufficiently monitoring whether the intermediary company fulfilled its obligations within this transaction structure." Regarding claims that the supplier tried to contact via SNS, they explained, "Lee Jang-woo's account receives dozens of messages daily, and messages from accounts he does not follow are sorted into a separate 'message request' folder, making immediate confirmation difficult."

Hoonus Entertainment stated, "It is true that the messages were not checked promptly, but we clearly affirm that this was not intentional avoidance or neglect." Lee Jang-woo's side has provided an official statement including explanations about this controversy and expressed willingness to cooperate in resolving the issue going forward.