New cooking show featuring chef Paik Jong-won indefinitely postponed

A cooking show about researchers in Antarctica featuring scandal-ridden celebrity chef Paik Jong-won has been indefinitely postponed, reports said Monday.

The show, whose name roughly translates to "Chef in Antarctica," was slated for an April release but was postponed once to May and then again indefinitely, according to a Sports Seoul report.

MBC said that it was due to the early presidential election that will take place on June 3.

The show was jointly produced by MBC and Studio X+U. It features Paik, actor Im Soo-hyang, Chae Jong-hyeop and Suho of boy band EXO who travel to Antarctica to cook meals for the researchers stranded in one of the most extreme environments on earth.

The show finished shooting last November. 

"We were planning to release it in May but we are going to discuss a new date. We don't have any plans yet," a production staff reportedly told Sports Seoul.

The news comes after a series of controversies surrounding Paik and his culinary brand Theborn Korea. The scandals mostly touch on the brand's products, in terms of quality and price, which seemingly go against the food ethics Paik is seen highlighting on television.

For instance, Paik said people should use high quality ham made mostly from pork because it tastes better. But his own brand of ham, Paik Ham, was sold at a price higher than the market average but with less pork than similar products.

A similar instance was found when the nakji bokkeum (stir-fried small octopus) package sold on Theborn Korea's website used Chinese garlic when the product was promoted as using Korean ingredients only. The National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service ordered Theborn Korea to change its nutritional information accordingly.

Paik made an apology last month through the company's website and at a shareholder meeting.

"I sincerely apologize once again for the disappointment and distress caused by recent events," Paik said. "Both I and all of our employees take this situation very seriously. We are fully committed to addressing these concerns with an organization-wide effort and accountability."

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]