“K-POP and Netflix dramas are not the only Korean Wave. I think Korean food is a very attractive Korean Wave element. That‘s why I participated. . Let’s play with Korean food! Play K-Food Challenge!”

‘Each meal as if it were the first’, Heebab reigns as the queen of the domestic mukbang scene. Heebab, who has conquered AfreecaTV (now Sup), has 1.66 million subscribers, and is expanding the ‘Heebab Empire’ beyond YouTube to terrestrial and OTT, is participating in Play K-Food through his YouTube channel ‘Heebab’

The ‘2024 Play K-Food Challenge’, sponsored by the Korea Culture Foundation (KCF), Sports Donga, and Cyber Diplomacy Corps VANK and sponsored by the Korea Tourism Organization and the Korea Foundation for International Cultural Exchange, is a global Korean Wave event. This is an online short-form video challenge designed to promote Korean food (K-food) in the era of 200 million fans and to encourage people around the world to participate in the challenge. The challenge, which officially started on April 23, has garnered over 20 million views with videos of famous stars who voluntarily participated, including actors Ma Dong-seok, Lee Je-hoon, Byun Woo-seok, Hye-ri, Lee Dong-hwi, idol group The Kingdom, Ghost9, and professional golfer Bang Shin-sil.

Hibab uploaded on his YouTube channel on the 15th, ‘K-100-cheop Bansang Challenge that I really wanted to try… Through an 18 minute and 10 second video titled “I am proud to be born Korean,” the challenge naturally introduced the meaning of the challenge and encouraged participation while providing fun and laughter to viewers.

Eunpyeong Hanok Village Yeseo The video shot in Heon begins with Hee-bap, dressed in a beautiful hanbok, entering a hanok with the caption, ‘We will chew, tear, and taste our country‘s delicious and traditional food with Hee-bap!’. In the yard, there is a large pot of Samgyetang with six chickens being boiled. The pot is hanging. After completing the missions of jegichagi, tug-of-war, yutnori, and archery in order, a 100-course meal that is difficult to fit on the camera screen is finally placed in front of Hee-bap. Even the plain rice is filled with the ‘Korean spirit’.

“This is the first time in my life that I have ever had a meal like this,” says Hibap, picking up the ribs with his hands and putting them in his mouth. The corners of his mouth turn to the sky. The chicken legs of Samgyetang He also showed off his eating skills by saying, “Samgyetang started out as a way for rich families to make chicken soup or chicken stew with ginseng powder during the Japanese colonial period.”

My favorite side dishes are perilla leaf pancake and stir-fried fish cake. Then I added bone stew, marinated crab, kimchi pancake, stir-fried octopus, tteokgalbi, japchae, bracken, pickled octopus, seaweed stems, pollack pancake, salted pollack roe, and a whole samgyetang… Hibap, who emptied 100 plates in lightning speed, said, “It’s so great to travel abroad, but after two days, I definitely eat Korean food. If that doesn’t work out, I’ll just take some gochujang,” expressing his love for Korean food. “Even the king wouldn’t eat like this,” he said, adding, “I If he had been born in the Joseon Dynasty, he would have said, “Put that savage to death by poison,” and brought the poison through a pipe,” making viewers laugh.

Hibab, who cleared all 100 dishes of banquet As the video ended, he once again encouraged viewers to show interest and participate in the challenge. The video of Heebap’s 100-course side dish challenge surpassed 170,000 views in just one day after its release, fueling the challenge‘s popularity.
< br>“It was a time when I felt the greatness of Korean food once again. Until the day when K-food becomes known throughout the world, I ask for your continued interest in Korean food. Hiba~!!”




Reporter Yang Hyeong-mo hmyang0307@donga.com