Deadbeat couple leaves Jeju guesthouse owner more than $2,000 in the hole

A couple who stayed at a guesthouse on Jeju Island for more than a year left abruptly in October without paying more than 3 million won ($2,040) in accommodation fees, the owner said.

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A couple who stayed at a guesthouse on Jeju Island for more than a year left abruptly in October without paying more than 3 million won ($2,040) in accommodation fees, the owner said. The owner later learned that the couple also had unpaid bills with a wedding-planning company and a catering service.

JTBC’s program “Crime Chief” featured the owner’s account on Monday. The owner said they met the couple in September last year, when the two introduced themselves as engaged.

The man said he owned a self-service car wash in Ulsan and arrived in what the owner described as a high-end vehicle. The woman said she had chronic insomnia. The couple talked about plans to open a cafe and a lodging business on Jeju, the owner said.

At first, the couple paid their accommodation fees weekly. But starting early this year, they began to fall behind, making only partial payments of 500,000 to 1 million won at a time.

In April, they sent the guesthouse owner a mobile wedding invitation and invited them to attend the ceremony. The owner went and gave a cash gift.

But the couple on Oct. 27 packed their belongings and left without notice. At the time, they had accrued approximately 3.4 million won in unpaid lodging costs.

The guesthouse owner later discovered the couple had also failed to pay 1.1 million won to a wedding planning company and 1 million won to a catering service.

The couple made various excuses for the delayed payments. They claimed their business accounts were frozen due to tax issues, that a system failure caused by a fire disrupted banking operations, and that funds would come in once they finalized their cafe and guesthouse.

The couple has since cut off all contact. Police told the guesthouse owner the case may not qualify as criminal fraud. The owner is now preparing a lawsuit.

“I’m sharing this because I’m concerned that others might fall victim in the same way,” the owner said.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY SHIN HYE-YEON [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]