"For my food, I didn't drink and drive"Lim Sung-geun, after "Fast and Six Crimes" [★FULL Interview]

*This content was translated by AI.

Chef Lim Sung-geun (58), a former "Black and White Chef 2", retired from broadcasting due to the controversy over "six previous crimes" and announced his plans for future activities.

Chef Lim Sung-geun recently conducted an interview with Star News in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul. This was initially arranged to hear how it felt to become the largest beneficiary of Global OTT Netflix's "Black and White Chef: Cooking Class War 2" (hereinafter referred to as "Black and White Chef 2").

Chef Lim appeared as a white spoon team in "Black and White Chef 2" as the winner of the 2015 Olive and TVN "Korean Food Battle 3," ranking seventh in the final ranking. It gained popularity for its pleasant talking and hot charm, attracting the most attention among the performers of "Black and White Chef 2."

But this popularity did not last long. Chef Lim confessed to the fact that he was caught drunk driving three times on the 18th of last month, and he became a controversial figure in the "popular chef."

Furthermore, another past criminal record has been revealed, and the scandal has spread out of control. It was found that drunk driving was not three times but four times (1999, 2009, 2017, and 2020), and that it was a total of "six previous crimes," including one assault on both sides and one violation of the Road Traffic Act, shocking the public. As a result, appearances such as MBC's "Omniscient Interference View," web entertainment "Salon Drip," and SBS's "Dongsang Imong Season 2 - You Are My Destiny," which Chef Lim finished recording, were either discarded or edited. KBS 2TV's "New Release Pyeon Restaurant" and JTBC's "Knowing Bros," which were scheduled to appear, were canceled.

In addition, Im Sung-geun's YouTube channel "Im Sung-geun Im Jjang TV" had 1 million subscribers right around the corner, but after drunk driving and confession, more than 60,000 left, decreasing to 930,000.

Chef Lim Sung-geun, who pushed ahead with the interview despite such a strong backlash. He said he was here to endure all the arrows of criticism and to directly apologize, and also to keep his promise with the reporters.

Chef Lim Sung-geun, who sat facing the reporter with a bushy beard, said, "It would be a lie to say that you're in your right mind. Everything just stopped, everything collapsed," he said, strugglingly.

He said, "I'm a human being, so I wanted to run away. Who wants to reveal their own feelings. However, I have never hidden my drunk driving history while participating in survival games three times. YouTube videos were also suspected of "playing players," which is not true at all. There was no such thought at all. Rather, I was more afraid when all the focus of Korea was on me with "Black and White Cook 2" than now. I couldn't handle it because I'm not a celebrity and I've never received such attention. That's why I always thought, 'I have to say it today.' As I became too soft, a confession came out naturally during the YouTube shoot that I was filming with the producer as usual. The production team dissuaded him, but I asked him to pay it as it is. It was released by reservation transmission, but a misunderstanding about the timing arose. It was a coincidence, and it was unexpectedly misunderstood. I blame myself for 'you fool' to be courageous two more weeks, three weeks earlier. I always wanted to reveal it in my head, but I didn't have the courage. I'm a coward until the end, so I think I missed the golden time," he explained.

Chef Lim Sung-geun said, "I'm a person who has nothing. If you're cheated, you've never been cheated, lied to others or made them heartbroken, or lived like that. It's so honest that I even wonder why people are even talking about things they don't want to say. As the saying goes, a thief can't live without his own feet. I want to tell you again that I'm the type to speak truthfully, even though I'm late in confessing. "If it's short, I've been friends with elementary school fans for a short period of time on Instagram, and I really communicated with them from the bottom of my heart," he said.

Most of all, he pushed ahead with the interview despite the anxiety of those around him because of malicious comments that went too far toward his family. Chef Lim Sung-geun said, "Hate me and kill me. Stop attacking people around me," he earnestly appealed.

Chef Lim said, "It's going a completely different way than I thought it would be, so I'm so scared and shocked. Seeing the malicious comments running on my wife, even my 4-year-old granddaughter, I thought I should make it clear. The producer also sat next to me for no reason and was struck by it. He reiterated, "Please stop swearing and attacks on families and people around you."

Chef Lim Sung-geun said, "The other thing I wanted to tell you was about 'fake news'. They say I'm a gangster for some kind of power trip and tattoo, but please don't spread rumors. I'm a person who's been abused all my life. have that tender heart. If anyone has been cheated by me at least once, I can even tell them to come out. He said, "I'm not the kind of senseless person who hurts others."

In particular, Chef Lim Sung-geun said he had no intention of lying about the increase from 3 drunk driving, 4 times, and 6 previous crimes.

Chef Lim said, "When I first told you, I fumbled my memory and revealed it. I don't think anyone remembers paying all the fines. Who remembers it all. I told you something I remembered, it came out 30 years ago. In a way, doesn't Korea protect all bad guys?" he said, pointing out the problem of personal information leakage.

Chef Lim Sung-geun said, "I suddenly became a liar. I think it's the same as I did 10 times when I drank and drove three times. It's the same drunk driving and should be blamed the same no matter how many times it's been. Why would you hide it? I didn't mean to hide it (four drunk driving). However, I didn't know what happened 30 years ago, and I never remembered or imagined it. Do you remember what happened 30 years ago. I don't remember. I can't even remember what happened 16 years ago," he said.

Chef Lim Sung-geun, who eventually announced his retirement from broadcasting. He said, "At first, this happened and I was going to return my driver's license. He was mentally devastated by the rumor of a gangster and fake news about being tattooed. It's hard to be a normal routine. I had too much trauma mentally," he said.

Chef Lim Sung-geun said, "I'm a regular person. Taking this opportunity, I'm not going to broadcast at all, but I'm going to do my job. I declared the suspension because I thought it was not polite to the viewers (to continue broadcasting). And I don't think I can do it because I have trauma. I can't laugh at the camera. I think it's right that I don't broadcast."

However, the scheduled appearance of home shopping will continue. Chef Lim Sung-geun said, "This isn't just about me. It is rather a big crime to stop. If I don't appear, many small and medium-sized companies, which are intertwined with packaging companies, will break down. You can give me any criticism. But what crime are they doing. It's ridiculous to try to make money from home shopping, and we'll take responsibility for the holiday products we've prepared for the companies without any problems."

He also said that he will not stop running his YouTube channel. Chef Lim Sung-geun said, "I don't intend to upload the video right now, but I'm going to continue to operate when my mind is somewhat ready. This was also not made for profit, but was opened as a kind of talent donation. It was a channel created by thinking that it was a talent donation that I could do, so that self-employed people could learn if they needed my recipe. I've been doing volunteer work little by little since 20 years ago, and I'm going to donate all the profits excluding YouTube operating expenses. He has already pledged to host a rice truck of love. The donation of proceeds has nothing to do with this incident. I'm not saying this to get wet. It's something I've been doing so far," he said.

He also said, "Those who don't want to see me won't come in, but I think even one in ten people will need my recipe."

It also plans to open a restaurant in Paju, Gyeonggi Province as scheduled. When asked about the preconceived notions of the previous six convictions, Chef Lim Sung-geun said, "Food didn't drink and drive. My hands didn't drink, so it has nothing to do with the taste of food. The taste of the food does not change," he said, expressing pride.

He then said, "I was betrayed by fraud, so I was asked if I could serve as the general chef because my restaurant had not been available for several years, and I accepted it. I also work for a salary. It's not my building, and I didn't rent it. It is a building owned by a small and medium-sized company that has a bond with me. The chef is my calling, so I always missed him. If the CEO of this small and medium-sized company does not change his mind, he added, "I will keep my promise until the end."

Finally, Chef Lim Sung-geun said, "I reflected a lot on this opportunity. If you find me, I will do my best to treat you with good food and warm food," he said. "I've only cooked for nearly 40 years, so there's nothing else I can do. I also have an attached family, so I'm going to cook steadily until my body moves," he said.

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*This content was translated by AI.