Exclusive
'World Ramen Festival Controversy' Organizer Hope Boat Disappears, Leaving No Office and Cutting Off Contact

[비즈한국] Controversy continues to surround the '2025 World Ramen Festival,' which was held in Gijang-gun, Busan, from May 2 to 11. The World Ramen Festival faced a barrage of complaints from visitors due to poor management, and related events were ultimately canceled. As the organizer, Hope Boat, has gone into hiding, the damage is spreading to companies that participated in the festival.

Contrary to the promotional slogan, "A global festival for everyone to taste and enjoy ramen from around the world," the World Ramen Festival faced public outcry due to its poor management, such as a lack of ramen varieties and even insufficient hot water, despite it being a paid event.

The event eventually came to an end amidst the controversy, and the organizing committee announced refunds. The organizer, Hope Boat, stated on the World Ramen Festival website, "We prepared thoroughly to create a safe and enjoyable festival where people could enjoy domestic and international ramen cultures, but we humbly accept that we failed to meet the expectations of our visitors due to some operational shortcomings," adding, "We will process refunds in the order they are requested." They also noted that partial refunds for visitors who entered the festival grounds would be restricted.

However, Hope Boat only posted an apology and has not appeared publicly. Bizhankook attempted to contact Hope Boat to hear their stance, but the only response was a recorded message stating, "This number has been disconnected."

As Hope Boat has vanished, the impact is spreading to the companies that participated in the World Ramen Festival, as many of them have not been paid for their services. The Busan Participation Network and the Health and Social Welfare Solidarity pointed out, "Suspicions and accusations are growing that the World Ramen Festival was a scam carried out by the organizers for financial gain."

Following the controversy, the Gijang-gun Office reported Hope Boat to the police for violating the Food Sanitation Act, on the grounds that they operated a general restaurant business without the required permits. The Gijang-gun Office stated, "We will fully cooperate if the police station in charge requests additional materials regarding the reported charges."

According to the corporate registry, Hope Boat was established last October. Contrary to how they promoted themselves as a non-profit organization, they are actually a private corporation. Their office was listed as being in a building in Seocho-gu, Seoul.

Bizhankook visited the Hope Boat office on the 16th. While the website lists this location as the headquarters, it is actually a virtual office platform. The door was locked, and no office staff could be found. A virtual office is a service that provides a legal and administrative address without a physical workspace, typically used by corporations that do not require an office. It appears that Hope Boat also conducted its business activities without a physical office.

With the whereabouts of Hope Boat remaining unknown, attention has turned to the Busan Association of Organizations for the Disabled (comprising 16 districts and counties), which co-hosted the World Ramen Festival. The association claims that they are also victims of Hope Boat. An official from the association expressed their distress, saying, "We participated with good intentions because Hope Boat promised to provide free tickets to the festival and sponsor 1 billion won worth of ramen, and we were not involved in the actual event operations at all. We only held a donation ceremony, but we never actually received the sponsorship. We are in a very difficult situation because of this result."