Lee Dong-gun denies cafe failure rumors, announces plans to move business to Seoul

Actor Lee Dong-gun has personally revealed the reason behind closing his cafe on Jeju Island. Contrary to rumors of business failure and financial distress, he explained that the actual reason was the burden of managing the store while traveling between Jeju Island and Seoul. After operating the business for one year and six months, he decided to move to Seoul, determining that it was difficult to provide sufficient satisfaction to customers under those circumstances.

On the SBS entertainment program "My Little Old Boy" broadcast on the 1st, Im Won-hee, Lee Dong-gun, and Cho Jin-se visited the new studio of space planner Yoo Jeong-su. While the cast members expressed admiration for the studio, which even features a swimming pool, Yoo Jeong-su shared the difficulties of maintaining the space, stating, "I clean all day, but it never ends."

Listening to the conversation, Lee Dong-gun recalled his experience running a cafe. Mentioning the cafe he operated on Jeju Island, he said, "The first thing I did when I went to work at the cafe was clean the pond." The daily labor involved in managing the store naturally became a topic of conversation.

In response, Im Won-hee jokingly asked, "I heard a rumor that the Jeju Island cafe went bust." Appearing to be aware of the closure rumors, Lee Dong-gun immediately explained, "I am preparing to move to Seoul." He noted that although he operated the cafe in Jeju for one year and six months, the lifestyle of constantly traveling between Seoul and Jeju was much harder than expected.

He also shared the practical difficulties he faced while continuing operations. Lee Dong-gun explained that as the period lengthened, "even though I did my best, I couldn't satisfy [customers]," suggesting that the physical distance and the burden of travel affected customer service. His point was that it was not easy to go beyond simply maintaining the store to consistently managing it and improving the quality of operations.

Ultimately, after consulting with space planner Yoo Jeong-su, Lee Dong-gun decided to challenge himself again by running a cafe in Seoul. He stated, "Because of these difficulties, I consulted with Yoo Jeong-su and am preparing to move to Seoul to work harder." He explained that closing the Jeju location was not a choice to quit the business entirely, but a decision to change the method of operation.

It appears that managing a store while traveling between regions while balancing acting career and business was no easy task. Following his one year and six months in Jeju, attention is focused on what kind of space and concept Lee Dong-gun will present as he prepares for a new start in Seoul.

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