Shocking Hygiene Controversy: Restaurant Caught Reusing Ice from Trash in Seoul’s Gwangjang Market

Translation result.

A restaurant worker at Seoul’s Gwangjang Market is accused of retrieving ice discarded in a trash can and reusing it, sparking consumer concern.

On May 1, JTBC’s ‘Sageon Banjang’ reported that a tipster identified only as A said they witnessed the reuse on the afternoon of April 30 while looking out the window of a café near Gwangjang Market.

In the video A recorded, a person believed to be a restaurant employee removes a plastic cup of ice from a trash can in front of the shop. The employee rinses the ice under a tap about twice, then places it into a nearby styrofoam box.

Shortly after, another worker opens the styrofoam box and piles that ice onto prepared fish. A said the employee who rifled through the trash not only reused the ice but also began cooking immediately without washing their hands after touching the bin.

The restaurant owner defended the staff, saying he only instructed them to tidy up drinks thrown in the trash so they wouldn’t spill on the floor. He denied ordering anyone to reuse ice or conveying such an instruction, and suggested an employee may have acted out of a desire not to waste the ice.

This is not the first time Gwangjang Market has faced complaints over prices and hygiene. Recently, a street vendor at the market was suspended after selling a bottle of water to a foreign customer for 2,000원 (≈ $1.50).