In a video released on the YouTube channel Knowledge Inside on November 30th, Hong Seok Cheon reflected on the time when he operated more than 10 restaurant locations nationwide. He said, “The public only remembers the ‘successful Hong Seok Cheon,’ but I had many more stores that closed. I tried doing things others didn’t and failed, losing a lot of money,” and explained that he has since shut down all his restaurants.
Still, the reason he kept the business going was because of the people. Hong said, “I loved seeing those who learned under me doing better than I did. There were many juniors like that in the first 10 years, and even now they’re doing better than me,” sharing his management philosophy that values people above all else.
However, things changed in the later years. He admitted, “I began to lose hope in people. I wanted to teach more, but felt like they would just run away. I became exhausted,” revealing why he had no choice but to let everything go.
The turning point was his health deterioration. Hong explained, “The stress led to sepsis, and I almost died. I survived after over 10 days of injections in the hospital. That’s why I closed all my restaurants a year before COVID.”
Despite facing a critical medical crisis, the emotional wounds he received from people were also deep. He shared bitterly, “Even though I nearly died, those I cared about didn’t contact me. Then, out of the blue, someone random asked ‘Hyung, are you okay?’”
After hearing Hong Seok Cheon’s story, Seo Kyung Seok empathized, saying, “I was puzzled that someone who loved the restaurant business so much gave it up overnight, but getting hurt by people is the most painful.”
Previously, on Channel A’s Table for Four, Hong had revealed his surgery and recovery process, saying, “If I had waited just one more day, there was a 90% chance I could have died from sepsis.”
