Korean TV Personality Jang Young-ran Addresses Recipe Controversy on YouTube

Korean TV personality Jang Young-ran has addressed the controversy surrounding her stir-fried dried squid recipe.

On October 4th, a video titled 'Jang Young-ran's Astonishing 20-Pyeong Apartment First Reveal (+Kimchi Fried Rice, Stir-fried Dried Squid)' was uploaded to the YouTube channel 'A-Class Jang Young-ran.'

Jang Young-ran began by saying, "Today, I'm going to reveal something that might surprise you." She continued, "I was shocked by the stir-fried dried squid last time. But I'm sorry, the recipe isn't mine. I actually followed someone else's recipe."

When asked by the production team if she had committed fraud, Jang Young-ran clarified, "It's not fraud. I just used it as a reference." She explained that she followed the recipe of 'Tokkengi Ajumma,' a YouTuber with 310,000 subscribers, to address the plagiarism allegations.

During the episode, Jang Young-ran visited Tokkengi Ajumma's home and engaged in various conversations. As she toured the neatly organized spaces, Jang Young-ran expressed her admiration, saying, "This is life," and "This is no ordinary skill." When Jang showed interest in embroidery works, Tokkengi Ajumma explained, "This took a month, and that took three months. While raising kids and studying in the room, I couldn't watch TV, so I used simple colors to make it less tiring to look at for long periods."

Jang Young-ran also tasted the side dishes prepared by Tokkengi Ajumma. Jang commented, "It would be so delicious over rice. But when menopause hits, you might not feel like cooking." Tokkengi Ajumma hesitated before sharing her past, "Actually, I lost my mom early. I was nine years old. One day, my mom left due to a business failure, and my dad never returned after going to find her."

Tokkengi Ajumma further revealed, "My grandmother took care of the four siblings, but I was scared she might collapse, so I started cooking for my younger siblings at the age of nine." Jang Young-ran responded emotionally, "Oh my, that's so touching," with tears in her eyes.

Reporter: Jung Se-yoon, TenAsia yoon@tenasia.co.kr