tvN‘s ‘Backpacker 2’ has established itself as a true mega IP through its journey of providing a meaningful meal.

‘Backpacker 2’ is an extreme kitchen blockbuster that visits clients all over Korea. Baek Jong-won, Lee Soo-geun, Heo Kyung-hwan, Ahn Bo-hyun, and Go Kyung-pyo present heartwarming fun as they provide a meal full of sincerity to people from various fields. This week’s business trip team‘s last story is coming up. Here, the production team looked back on the meaningful achievements of ‘Backpacker 2’ during its six-month journey.


● “Sincerity Shines” Customized meals served to a total of 7,000 people throughout Season 2

According to the production team, ‘Backpacker’ caught everyone’s attention by visiting a total of 24 business trip destinations, preparing 135 dishes, and serving food to 4,011 people in Season 2. The number of people served meals across Seasons 1 and 2 exceeded a whopping 7,000. Season 2 started with a business trip to the Taean Magum-ri fishing village, and continued with meaningful visits to the Air Force Band Honor Guard Squadron starring Lee Do-hyun, the national athlete‘s village, the remains excavation and identification team, a fire station, the National Institute of Ecology, Daema Village, the National Archives of Korea, the National Institute of Scientific Investigation (NIS), Korea’s first children‘s taekwondo demonstration team, an aerospace company, a post office, and a police station, adding sincerity and warm laughter.

PD Shin Chan-yang, who was in charge of producing ‘Backpacker 2’, said about the location selection that cannot be left out as a secret to the program’s popularity, “The biggest criterion when selecting a business trip location is ’Why do I have to feed these people?‘. I think the most important thing is who the people eating are so that Mr. Baek and the business trip team can do their best.” That‘s why we visited various places, such as the military, fire stations, and police stations, as well as places of public interest, such as clam fishing villages and elementary schools in the mountains of Gangwon-do, and he said, “I think we tried to go with interest to any place where one meal of the group could be meaningful.”


● “Shocked by the firefighters’ meal environment”... Which business trip location did the production crew choose as the most memorable?

The production crew also chose the fire station, Jincheon Athletes‘ Village, National Forensic Service, and the remains excavation team as the most memorable business trip locations. Of those, the fire station business trip with its poor meal environment caused such a stir that improvements to the meal environment were discussed after “Backpacker 2.” PD Shin said that Baek Jong-won was really shocked when he checked the meal expenses and menu at the fire station, and added, “Recently, when I heard that improvements to the meal environment for firefighters were being discussed, both Baek Jong-won and the team were very happy.”


The National Forensic Service was also one of the places he left a deep impression on during his business trip. Baek Jong-won was shocked by the story that the National Forensic Service was treated as a detestable facility, and he even served a large cold noodle dish for the staff who were unable to eat on time despite their high workload. The excavation team’s trip to the most extreme location beyond the DMZ, where they performed a time attack cooking, also left a lasting impression on the production crew. PD Shin said, “I was surprised that the remains of soldiers from the Korean War were found on the afternoon of the day of the business trip. There are times when I‘ve wasted several days, but when the remains were found that day, and when I even heard that they were soldiers, it felt really strange. I thought it would be good if I appeared on TV, so I thought it would help me find my family a little faster,” he added.

He also couldn’t hide his pride after hearing news of the national team’s medals following his trip to Jincheon Athletes’ Village. Among them, Kim Min-jong, who shared a table with ‘Backpacker’ at Jincheon Athletes’ Village, appeared on the program, adding to its meaning. PD Shin added, “When Kim Min-jong said that he ate our meal at Jincheon Athletes’ Village and achieved good results in various competitions, including the Olympics, the team was really proud. Even though it was just one meal, I think the team is happiest when we receive feedback that we were of some help.”


● The power of tvN’s mega IP… The chemistry of ‘Workers’ was behind the popularity!

‘Backpacker 2’, which started in early summer, showed off its passionate power throughout the broadcast over a journey of about 6 months. In the past 21st episode, not only did it break the previous season’s highest viewership ratings with an average of 6.9% and a peak of 11.0% based on households in the metropolitan area, but it also proved its firepower throughout the broadcast by maintaining the top spot in the same time slot, including cable channels, for 23 consecutive weeks. (Nielsen Korea, based on paid platforms) The number of views of videos related to ‘Backpacker 2’ is approximately 180 million, and it is still receiving attention.

The driving force behind its popularity cannot be left out the performance of the members of the traveling team. Centered around Baek Jong-won, who led the cooking scene and showed his wit in times of crisis, the passive duo Lee Soo-geun and Heo Kyung-hwan, who worked tirelessly as mood makers even in the extreme settings, Ahn Bo-hyun, who is synonymous with active people and made the kitchen solid as a dessert genius, and Go Kyung-pyo, who endured the heat and became a frying expert, captivated viewers with the growth of the members who worked well together and their chemistry as ‘workaholics’ (people who are good at their jobs).

PD Shin Chan-yang said, ”Lee Soo-geun, Heo Kyung-hwan, Ahn Bo-hyun, and Go Kyung-pyo have each grown in skill to the point that even Mr. Baek acknowledges them. They‘ve been working together for 6 months, so their chemistry is really good,“ and ”At some point, they stopped feeling anxious or having a hard time when they were asked to serve more than 200 people, but instead felt very satisfied and proud.“ This drew attention.

Episode 24 of ”Backpacker 2“ will air at 7:40 PM on the 10th.

Reporter Hong Se-young, Donga.com projecthong@donga.com