A barbecue restaurant in Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo District, Seoul, remains empty due to a no-show on Monday. This photo, posted by a restaurant owner on the online forum Bosses in Pain, shows the impact of the 40-person no-show reservation. Captured from online community

Jeongseon County Office in Gangwon Province has addressed the controversy over its 40-person no-show reservation at a barbecue restaurant, attributing the incident to a consulting firm's error.

A post titled "Response to the 40-person reservation no-show by Jeongseon County office employees" appeared on the Jeongseon County Office's online forum, Thursday. The writer, presumed to be affiliated with the department involved, initially included their position and rank but later removed this information.

According to the post, 27 officials from the county's construction department attended a one-night, two-day workshop in Seoul from Oct. 28 to Oct. 29. A consulting agency was responsible for arranging the event, including booking the venue and meals.

The barbecue restaurant affected by the no-show was one of several selected by the consulting firm about 20 days in advance.

The post's author explained, “The firm said it's standard practice in the industry to make reservations at multiple restaurants.” The author added, “Unaware of this, we informed the consulting firm that the dinner would be self-funded and to chose a specific location for the meal.”

Jeongseon County officials only learned of the no-show issue after receiving a complaint. Upon investigation, they discovered that the consulting firm had failed to cancel reservations at other restaurants after the group chose a specific one, inadvertently leading to the no-show.

"The consulting firm has admitted full responsibility for the mistake," the post author added, noting that discussions to resolve the issue involved disagreements over the settlement amount. However, on Oct. 30, the consulting firm reached a final agreement with the restaurant owner.

The author expressed remorse and urged the public to refrain from spreading unverified information about the incident.

The no-show controversy initially came to light when the restaurant owner posted on a community forum, describing how they had prepared for 40 government officials, only to be met with an empty reservation.

The post sparked criticism of Jeongseon County officials, leading to a series of complaints on the county's website.

A barbecue restaurant in Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo District, Seoul, remains empty due to a no-show by Jeongseon County office officials, Monday. Captured from online community

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.