South Korean prosecutors on July 20, 2026 asked a court to sentence the owner of a two-Michelin-starred restaurant in Seoul's Gangnam district to one year in prison for serving dried ants in a sorbet dessert — a practice that continued for roughly four years without regulatory approval (The Guardian).

Prosecutors also requested a 20 million won fine (about $15,000 USD) for the corporate entity operating the restaurant. Both the owner and the company were charged under South Korea's Food Sanitation Act, a law governing food safety standards. The Act carries a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment or a 50 million won fine. Yonhap news agency first reported the sentencing demand (Yonhap).

The case centers on a specific dish: a sorbet topped with dried ants imported from the United States and Thailand. According to prosecutors, the restaurant began importing the ants in 2021 and served them across its 15-course tasting menu for approximately four years. The ant-topped dessert was sold roughly 12,200 times, generating total revenue of about 120 million won. Prosecutors estimated that approximately 49,000 ants were used in total.

The defense, led by attorney Seo Min-seok, disputed the prosecution's volume figures, arguing that only about 60% of customers accepted the ant topping when offered. The restaurant serves a 15-course menu, with only a small number of dishes incorporating ants.

South Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) launched its investigation after spotting mentions of the ant dishes in blog posts and social media. Under South Korean law, only 10 insect species are approved for use as food ingredients, including grasshoppers, mealworms, and silkworm pupae. Ants are not among them. Businesses wishing to use an unapproved insect as food must first obtain temporary approval from the ministry. A Korean-language scientific review identifies seven recognized edible insect species as of 2024, including rice grasshopper, silkworm, white river dragonfly, and brown mealworm larvae (Korea Science).

The restaurant's chef had used ants to add acidity to dishes while working in the United States and Europe and reportedly did not realize the practice was illegal in South Korea. The defense cited Denmark, the United Kingdom, and Australia as countries where restaurants use ants as food ingredients without similar restriction.

The trial is being heard at the Seoul Western District Court, Criminal Division 8, with Judge Lee Se-chang presiding. Sentencing is scheduled for September 2, 2026.

The broader context here is a regulatory framework that has not kept pace with global fine-dining innovation. South Korea's approved list of edible insects is narrow, and the temporary-approval pathway requires restaurants to engage with the MFDS before service begins — a step this restaurant evidently bypassed. The case illustrates the enforcement risk for high-end establishments that import culinary techniques honed abroad without checking whether domestic law permits them.

The defense's comparative argument, pointing to Denmark, the UK, and Australia, signals an attempt to frame the conduct as internationally accepted rather than negligent. Whether Judge Lee finds that framing persuasive, or whether the four-year duration and commercial scale of the violation outweigh the chef's claimed ignorance of the law, will be determined on September 2.

The sentencing request, at one year, sits well below the statutory maximum of five years. That gap itself signals how the prosecution has calibrated the case — treating it as a food-safety violation with commercial dimensions rather than consumer fraud at the high end of severity.