Lee Jang-woo, an actor, is being accused of not paying more than 40 million won ($30,000) in unpaid ingredient bills at a sundaeguk (blood sausage soup) restaurant he used to own. Reports say that payments for pork offal have been late for months, which has worried both suppliers and the public.

A supplier who was part of the dispute and asked to be called A, talked about how hard it was to get paid by Lee Jang-woo's restaurant.

A told Naver, "I trusted him and waited because he is a celebrity. However, he has been delaying the payment for over a year."

The supplier said that even though the first payments were made on time, the cycle got longer and longer, and there were months when no payments were made at all. Reports say that the debt had grown to 64 million won ($48,000) by January 2025. A stated that repeated text messages demanding payment went unanswered.

Naver also said that A sent Lee Jang-woo a direct message after these attempts. Instead of getting a personal response, he was called by a former restaurant employee who promised to "pay back 2 million won ($1,500) per month." But this plan did not work out.

Xportsnews pointed out that the restaurant's legal owner had changed since then. A spokesperson for the new company said, "Lee Jang-woo is not a co-CEO. He only participated briefly during the initial opening to help a friend and has not been involved at all since then."

Even with this explanation, the problem is still not solved. The supplier was upset and said, "We do not want to know the internal affairs of the store. We just want the overdue money to be paid back quickly."

Hunus Entertainment, Lee Jang-woo's agency, told the outlet on March 17 that they were currently verifying the situation. In response to questions, there have been no more statements about the payment schedule or possible resolution.

People who follow the industry say that these kinds of fights, especially those between businesses owned by celebrities, can change how people see and trust them.

Lee Jang-woo has been in a lot of movies and TV shows, but he hasn't talked about the claims directly in public.

Both the former supplier and the agency are still waiting for confirmation of the facts. The actor's financial struggles have captured attention, drawing the gaze of fans and industry insiders alike, all curious to see how the situation unfolds.