01x03 - K-Beauty

[bunniefuu]

[speaking Korean, laughs]

[in English] It's such
a special feeling to be here
at a kimchi festival

because it's a food that
meant so much to me
throughout my entire life.

[speaking Korean]

[in English]
When I was younger,

some non-Korean friends
would come over,

they would be wondering
what that terrible smell was,

and it made me feel
self-conscious about the food
that I was eating every day.

But now it's a 180,
and kimchi has become
a global food

that everyone knows,
and it's become
a source of pride

for the entire country
and for people like me.

Hi.

[speaking Korean]

[in English]
I'm Daniel Dae Kim, actor...

Daniel, nice to meet you.

...producer and proud
Korean American.

All right, we have to stop
before I get emotional.

When I was a kid,
it was not cool to be Korean.
[chuckles]

Then this happened.

[reporter 1]
Cultural phenomenon
or Korean wave.

[reporter 2]
Korean wave K-Pop
along with TV dramas.

[Kim]
Now I'm going to South Korea...

It's so good. [chuckles]

...where I was born...

It's exactly what
I remember as a kid.

...to find out how
this small nation in East Asia
rose from the ashes of w*r...

[narrator]
The end of three years
of bitter conflict.

[Kim]
...dictatorship and poverty.

[reporter]
Decades of sacrifice,
years of success.

[Kim]
...to conquer the world...

- Parasite.
- [audience cheering]

[Kim] ...with its culture
in just one generation.

Or we can go global now.

Oh, my God!

- Bottoms up.
- [both laugh]

[Kim] From K-Pop...

Day Ones, we love you.

[Kim] ...To K-Beauty.

This is a new world.

To K-Everything.

[people chattering
indistinctly]

[woman speaking in Korean]

[both, in English] Wow.

It's big.

- Looks like we're gonna
make a lot of kimchi.
- Yeah.

I'm with my mom and dad
at a Kimjang festival.

It's an annual celebration
of kimchi where families
come together

to prepare cabbage
for fermentation, a tradition
that goes back centuries.

[both speaking Korean]

[in English] A paste.

Cabbage.

This is the Pyeongchang
cabbage. Yeah.

[speaking Korean]

[in English] Yoon Seung-Il
is one of the organizers here.

All right.

[speaking Korean]

[in English] Mom and Dad
grew up in Korea,
but now live in California.

Dad, this is your first time
ever making this, right, ever?

[speaking Korean]

[in English] Mom is a pro.

We stuff red chili paste

mashed with garlic,
ginger and shrimp

and the heads of highland
Napa cabbage.

Koreans began fermenting kimchi
as a means of survival,

to eat during the cold months
of winter.

That's very good.

That's so good.

[speaking Korean]

[in English]
With over 60,000 visitors,

this is billed as
the biggest Kimjang in Korea.

It's mostly families who've
come from all over the country,

increasingly some non-Koreans too.

The men in the Kim family.
This is their first kimchi.
I'm very proud of it.

[all chuckling]

Exports of kimchi
to the US alone
have gone up around tenfold

since 2011.

Why do you think kimchi
is so popular
now around the world?

[speaking Korean]

[in English] You know it's
a very common story for a lot
of Asian Americans where,

you know, their lunch boxes
were subjects of shame

when they brought them
to school, you know?

It was like, what we now know
is, like,

hand rolls and kimbap
which is rice mixed with like

some vegetables and some meat
surrounded by seaweed.

It takes a lot longer
than a sandwich,

and we used to put that
with kimchi in the lunchbox,

and, you know,
we learned very early
that we shouldn't bring that

to a public school elementary
lunch because we just
got made fun of

most of the time,
but it's different now.

Yeah.

[speaking Korean]

[Kim in English] When I was
growing up, most Americans
thought Korean food

was nothing more
than a smoke-filled
barbecued beef restaurant

where you had to cook
your own food.

Man, how things have changed.

In 2025, the number one
restaurant in the US,

according to the world's


Atomix in New York.

Over the past five years,

the number of Korean-owned
food outlets overseas
grew by 25%,

with more now in the US
than any other country.

No surprise for the nearly


We're in a neighborhood
called Euljiro.

And what's pretty special
about this neighborhood

is that, you know, you think
that when you're in Korea,

that the only thing
you'll find is, K-Barbecue,
or, you know, noodle shops.

We've got some pork places,
we've got some seafood places.

It's all condensed
into this little neighborhood.

None of this was here
at the end of the Korean w*r.

In 1953, Seoul
was mostly in ruins.

Food was scarce.
Now, Korean is
a global cuisine.

How is that possible?

How does a country
go from poverty

to global K-Food craze
in just two generations?

[greeting in Korean]

- [in English] I'm Daniel.
Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you .

I've heard so many things
about you.

- Good things.
- Yes.

Your reputation
is very well-regarded
around Korea.

Ellie Lee is a food stylist
for Korean films and TV.

[both exclaiming]

In Extreme Job,

it was Ellie who trained
the actors to make all that
fried chicken on camera.

Today, we're making
a dish Ellie prepared for
the production of Squid Game.

Japchae.

[Ellie] Jap means assorted.

Then Chae means vegetables.

So Japchae,
those two letters together,
is assorted vegetables.

So back in the day
in Joseun Dynasty,

we didn't have the noodle
when we used to serve this one

to the royal family,
to the king before.

So it was only just different
vegetables with meat.

We do all the choppings.

- Just like that.
Just like that.
- Just like this.

[both laughing]

Oh, yeah, this will never cook.

- I have to eat this one.
[chuckles]
- You should.

Chop.

Try to cut as thin as possible.

I've already failed.

This is a little bit
more advanced level.

Oh. Well, good, because
I think I'm ready for
the advanced level now.

I've mastered the basics.

So, since you started cooking,

you've seen a big change
in the way

that Korean food is considered
and regarded around the world.

[Ellie] Absolutely.

I started, like,
the cooking classes since 2002.

Around those times,

you know, people
don't really know
where Korea is located.

- Mmm-hmm.
- But then, like Dae Jang Geum,
one of the drama

was so, it's like so popular.

[speaking Korean]

[Kim in English] That's
Jewel in the Palace,
a 2003 Korean hit

that aired in 91 countries
and featured one of my favorite

Korean actresses of all time,
Lee Young-Ae.

We started having,
like, many Japanese
and Chinese around those times.

[Kim] Soon after,
K-Pop took off.

[Ellie] And then the
"Gangnam Style" people

from around the world,
they started coming to Korea.

And then BTS.

You're saying that drama, music
all influenced the way

people felt about
Korean culture
in general.

And then also the food.

Because, you know,
when you watch
K-dramas and films,

you know, there are always
eating scenes.

[both chuckle]

[Kim] South Korea's leadership
saw that connection too.

I think it started just about


And then the government
tried to, like, promote
Korean food around the world.

[singing onscreen lyrics]

[Kim] In 2011,
the government funded
this Wonder Girls song.

Subtle, huh?

It was part of
a $76,000,000 campaign
between 2009 and 2012.

Designed to make the world
fall in love with Korean food.

- Okay.
- Mmm-hmm.

How has the government
played a role?

Yeah, the government,
they are very supportive
to the restaurants

here in Korea.

We have the government support
for the young chefs.

You know, like also
some free teaching,

like free lessons
for restaurants,

and then they can have some
skills as well. You're done.

[Kim] The government
also encouraged
Koreans overseas

to open
new restaurants and offered
specialized training.

So what foods did you notice
when Korean foods started
becoming more popular?

At the first place,
people were very interested

- in knowing much more
about the kimchi.
- Mmm-hmm.

- And then the side dishes.
- Side dishes, the banchan.

[Ellie] Because, like,
our dining culture
is usually with rice, soup

and with different side dishes.

[Kim] Banchan dishes
are shared and generally free
at every Korean restaurant.

These small, mostly vegetarian
side dishes vary by region.

The tradition dates back
more than 1,000 years,

when Korea's official religion
was Buddhism, which
discouraged eating meat.

- Mix with our hands.
- Mix with our hands.

- This is my very first Japchae.
- [Lee chuckles]

- All done.
- Look at that.

- Yes.
- Thank you very much.

- I think that's pretty good.
Mmm-hmm.
- Yeah.

You did so well.

[greeting in Korean]

[thanking in Korean]

[in English] It's so good.
[chuckles]

This is a nice market
because it's not as touristy
as some of the other markets.

A lot of neighborhood people
come here

and actually get their
full supplies from here.

Coming from Busan,
like, these kinds of foods
were on my table all the time.

Spiced squid, and it's raw.

This is one of
my favorite things.
This is little crabs.

That's also excellent.

I love all these foods.

Ah. Look at this.

[speaking Korean]

[in English]
This is one of Korea's
most famous street foods.

This is spicy rice cake.

It's called tteok-bokki.

[speaking Korean]

[in English]
This reminds me of,

being a teenager,
the first time
I came back to Korea

on my own, I was 17 years old.

I didn't have a lot of money,
and we used to

go to street stalls
all the time
to get our lunches.

And I had a lot of this dish
right here,

both during the day
and at night.

Every bite here takes me back.

[speaking Korean]

[in English]
These also remind me
of being a kid.

It's chewy,
and when you bite it,

it bursts open with some juice,
with some sugar.

Now this one,
the fun part about this
is the powder on the top.

The thing you gotta be careful
about when you eat these

is how much powder you get
on your face when you do.

[chuckles]
So I'm sure I need a mirror,

but this is fantastic.

So you haven't
been here before?

Never.

Thank you.

I'm excited to try a place
that you like so much.

I'm with Corey Lee.

I think this is really a food
that is hard to find
outside of Korea.

[Kim] Corey is the first
Korean chef to achieve

the most prestigious award
in the culinary arts.

Three Michelin stars.

Cheers, man.

We're at his favorite
mom-and-pop style restaurant,
Jinmi Sikdang.

It's famous here
for its ganjang gejang,
or soy-marinated crab.

It's raw, salty,
intensely savory, and one of
my all-time favorites.

- How's it?
- Yeah, that's really good.

The first time I ever saw
someone crunch into
a raw crab, it was my dad.

- And I thought,
"Damn, man, that's savage."
- [both chuckle]

You know, he said, like,
when you eat crab,

when you eat lobster,
any kind of shellfish,

he said nothing
should go to waste.

Everything is edible.

comes with soup and gyeranjjim.

Gyeranjjim, whisked eggs
steamed in broth.

So it kind of souffles
a little bit, so it's like
a savory souffle.

The table setting
in a current restaurant
is part of experience,

It's just an array of banchan

that you're sharing
almost more than you can eat.

That's, like,
truly family-style.

You're not eating, like,
I think I'm eating
all the crab.

- [chuckles]
- I'm eating.

[Kim] Like me,
Corey was born in Korea.

Also like me,
his parents moved him to the US

at an early age.

My mom, they were never
those parents who made me
go to after-school classes

or, you know,
scrutinize my grades
or anything like that.

- Oh, really?
- They really weren't.
They were very, very hands off.

- You and I had some
different upbringings.
- [chuckles]

[Kim] Corey's mom, though,
did not want him to be a chef.

My father was
a pretty progressive person,

- especially for a Korean man
of his generation.
- Mmm-hmm.

But my mom's
fairly traditional,
and she really opposed it.

Constantly, you know,
saying comments
here and there

about how I should
look into someone else
or go to college, finally,

and pursue a real profession.

Right. Exactly.

- I'm sure you got
the same thing. Yeah.
- I did.

Most South Koreans
see university

as the best path
for upward social mobility.

The country even grounds
all their flights
for 30 minutes

during the annual college
entrance exam

so high schoolers
can concentrate.

Corey skipped college
and moved to the UK
to train in top restaurants.

When I was in London,
I think this was one of
the reasons why I knew quitting

was not an option for me
or going back to my parents

and saying maybe I should go
back to school or something.

They would have been happy.

I mean, yeah, but you know
what happened
in the late '90s here?

- IMF.
- Oh, gotcha.

South Korea hit the hardest.

South Korea's
financial troubles.

[Kim] IMF as in
International Monetary Fund.

Essential to overcome
a difficult period.

Which is how Koreans
refer to the $58 billion
bailout

the country received
in 1997 following
the Asian financial crisis.

[speaking indistinctly]

Many of Korea's
biggest companies went under,
and almost 1.5 million people

lost their jobs
in just five months.

But it's also
when the country realized

that cultural exports,
like food, could diversify
its economy.

My father ended up retiring
earlier than he expected.

And it really changed
our family's life,
especially my parents.

Actually, I think
that increased

my father's support of
what I wanted to do.

You know, he said
he did all the things
he thought he should do.

Go to a good university
or for a company,

dedicate your career
to this company for decades.

And then suddenly, you know,
you're forced to retire.

So you should, you know,
pursue your dreams.

And he felt, I think,
quite strong about that.

Corey eventually made his way
to the highly-acclaimed

French Laundry in California,
which is when his mom
finally came around.

A newspaper, Chosun Ilbo,
they heard that the head chef

of The French laundry
that just got three stars

is actually a Korean-American.

Chosun Ilbo was, you know,
one of the prominent papers.

It's a big deal.

- My mother read that article.
- [chuckles]

And she thought,
"Okay, I guess this is, like,
a real profession."

I think she needed some kind
of validation in her terms.

Right, because you could be
in The New York Times.

You could be in Time magazine.

It doesn't matter as much
as it would be like
a Korean newspaper.

I think that's right.

In 2014, Corey opened
the three-Michelin
starred Benu,

a contemporary
Asian-inspired restaurant
in San Francisco.

In 2021, he added San h* Won,

a Korean barbecue
restaurant there.

And in 2024,
Na Oh in Singapore.

What do you want for the future
for your restaurants
and for your cooking?

I'm really interested in taking
what I've learned
over the decades

and being able
to reach more people.

I've been in the
fine dining world
for so long, and really,

you're cooking for such
a small audience.

We opened a restaurant
in Singapore, called Na Oh,
and I think that we get

families come in and kids
come in and people who
might not be able

to go into
a fine dining restaurant,
experience something

that has been prepared
with as much intention

and as much care
as a fine dining restaurant,

but in a much more accessible
and affordable way.

For me, that's super exciting.

And seeing kids enjoy your food
makes them happy.

They get excited about it.

That's, you know,
that's pretty special, too.

That's right.
I'll drink to that.

Let's drink to affordable,
approachable family dining.

- [chuckles]
- Cheers.

Let's just say,
hypothetically speaking,

you've got a big night
of drinking ahead of you.

Here, there's a solution
for a hangover
before you get one.

This place is typical Korea.

Quick, clean, ingenious, GS25.

Twenty five, as in this place,
is open 25 hours a day.

This is really good.

So they say.

This is roasted sweet potato.

They have this as a snack here,
along with hard-boiled eggs.

Who doesn't like
a good hard-boiled egg?

And I like the fact
that they have,
like, an entire aisle

dedicated to noodles and ramen.

So what you do is
you take one of these,
you bring it over here,

grab one of these.

Literally, it's just
that simple.

And there you have
your iced coffee.

And multiple varieties
of Korea's famous
hangover cures.

So,

Koreans are super into
hangover prevention
and hangover cures,

'cause there's
a lot of drinking
that goes on in this country.

And so what people will do
is take one of these pouches
before they drink,

or the next day,
and it's supposed
to get rid of your hangover.

Now, a lot of my friends
swear by these.

I've actually tried them
a couple of times.
Mixed results.

[exclaiming and
chattering indistinctly]

Something tells me...

I'm with Corey Lee
and another chef who trained
under him, Mingoo Kang.

[speaking Korean]

[in English]
Traditional Korean rice wine.

Slightly sparkling
and milky white.

Sometimes red.

Makegeolli was once
a rustic home brew
for farmers.

Today it's trending
and craft makers are all in.

[speaking Korean]

[Lee] A word of warning
for those who've never been
to Seoul,

the scene here
can get a little wild.

Cheers.

Shaky, shaky.

Part ritual,
part social lubricant.

Korea's drinking culture,
I can honestly say,

is unlike any other
I've experienced on Earth.

For starters...

Who's the oldest?
Who's the youngest?

...there are rules.

I'm sure I'm the oldest.

I'm the oldest. I'm sure of it.

- One, respect your elders.
- [laughs]

[speaking Korean]

[in English]
When the youngest pours,
he pours with two hands

to everyone as
a show of respect.

Two, respect your boss.

And then it gets more
complicated if you're in
a work situation, right?

Because you have to know
the job titles of everybody.

[all speaking Korean]

Mmm.

[in English] Wow.

Like yogurt.

- It's like yogurt.
- Yes.

- [all laughing]
- [Kim] And three,
come prepared to drink.

Now it's a party.
Now it's a party.

- [laughing]
- A lot.

Hi.

Corey's friend joins us,
Lucy Cho.

We're talking about
drinking etiquette, right?

And who pours
for whom, you know,
so we've determined

that Chef Mingoo
is the youngest.

So he's been pouring.

So he didn't teach you that
it's lady's first in Korea.

- [all chuckling]
- Thank you for breaking up
this boy's club.

Cheers.

The other thing
you should know...

Wow, this looks good.

...food and alcohol go together
in Korea, even if you're full.

Drinks come with anju,
or snacks.

What is this? This is so good.
Is this saengtae?

- Like dried pollock, dried cod.
- Yeah.

Lucy is an entrepreneur
who wears many hats.

Owner of a popular
Korean soju brand,

as well as an award-winning
fine dining restaurant
in Seoul.

People have a huge respect
for our heritage,

but when it comes to
globalizing it, we're still
figuring it out beyond music

and beyond fashion,
beyond beauty,
how do we actually not just

make this popular,
make this something, how do
we create a global culture

for longevity?

- That's really interesting.
- I don't know. I mean...

Really takes time.

Like, when I was a kid,
it was not cool to be Korean,

you know, in America, you know,
people would ask me,
"Are you Japanese?"

I would say, "No."
"Are you Chinese?"

I would say, "No,
and people would say then,
"What are you?"

Because they'd never
heard of Korea before.

We've come such a long way
since then.

Alcohol in Korea
isn't just a pastime,

it's part of the culture,
in both good ways and bad.

The unwritten rules of hoesik
or after-work drink sessions

can mean long,
alcohol-fueled nights
that are mandatory

for some employees
in corporate life.

Though many say
this tradition is fading,

alcohol is still
a big part of society,
where Confucian principles

often dictate social norms,
and competition is fierce.

But for me tonight
it's just a chance
to bond with some new friends.

[speaking Korean]

[in English]
I think it's looking up
to people who existed before

and made a lot of changes
in Korean history.

So I know that
I'm not the first
and I will not be the last.

Cooking, it's something
that you pass on.

You know, we inherited
all the technique,
the knowledge, the know-how.

And we try to do our best
to add our own sensibilities

that may be affected
in a positive way somehow,

and then we leave it
to the next generation.

This is the spot.

We're at Eunjujeong,
a popular mother and daughter
run restaurant in Euljiro.

We should order.

Yeah.

The bell.

I love that, I mean,
it's so perfect, right?

This is one of
the greatest inventions.

I feel like everywhere
should have one,
you know?

[speaking Korean]

- [in English]
Do you like samgyeobsal?
- Sure. Sure.

[speaking Korean]

[in English] Eunjujeong
is famous for one dish:
Kimchi Jjigae, or kimchi stew,

which dates back to Korea's
Chosun era, the country's
last imperial dynasty.

The kingdom ended
when Japan colonized
the Korean Peninsula in 1910.

For the next half century,
Korea's agrarian economy
sputtered

and, during occupation,
World w*r Two, and in 1950,
another w*r with North Korea.

Through it all, though,
this hearty stew
remained popular.

It's a resourceful way to turn
very ripe, sour kimchi into
a quick and filling meal.

Whenever I think of this soup,
I think about Korean history

and the relationship
between food,

its food and history.

Like, it was a poor country
for a long time.

[Corey] You know,
you look at any
great food culture,

so many good dishes
have been born
out of necessity.

And I think Korean cuisine
is just full of it.

That's what makes it
so charming, and that's what
makes it so soulful.

We still have this core
of rustic flavors

that's really at
the heart of Korean cuisine.

I mean kimchi jjigae
is a really great
example of that,

[Kim] Our stew comes
with thick slices
of samgyopsal,

but you might
know it as pork belly,
and plenty of banchan.

- How is it?
- That's good.

Kimchi gets this balance
of the fat from meat,

the seasoning of the kimchi
with seafood and the acidity
from the fermentation.

I think you got to get
that balance right.

And that's why it's so tasty.

Was there some food trend
that you've seen with
Korean food that surprised you?

I'll tell you what.
Roy's Kogi truck,
that was revolutionary.

[reporter] This LA must-have
that has people scrambling

to find and waiting hours
to buy.

[Kim] He's talking
about Roy Choi,
who launched a Korean American

barbecue taco truck
in Los Angeles in 2008.

A fusion of flavors Choi
saw firsthand in LA's
Koreatown, including Mexican

and Central American food.

There's our kimchi quesadilla.

[Corey] I think
that what he did
and how it just took off,

and brought Korean food
to people in such
a different way.

For me, for Korean food
was groundbreaking.

When you started in places
like French Laundry,

was there an awareness
of Korean cuisine?

No.

Well, yes, but not
in the fine dining sense.

Right. Like now,
you could argue that
there's Korean infusion

in so many of the top
restaurants of the world.

It's been amazing to see.

And I can't think of,

fine dining Korean restaurant,
when I first started
in the industry,

fine dining Korean restaurant
abroad outside of Korea.

Can you?

No, no, not when I was a kid.

Korean food was only
for Koreans, you know?

Corey's Benu was among
the first to change that.

What's something that you were
surprised was a huge hit?

Actually, serving kimchi,
I think this was about a year
after we had opened.

We made this kimchi kind of cup
with an oyster on top.

And it was one bite.

If you asked me maybe
ten years ago in the training
period of my career,

I would never think that
I'd be serving kimchi
in a fine dining restaurant.

What do you think made it jump
to people outside of Korea?

I think that the palate
has changed,
just generationally.

And people see food
as something different
than they did before.

It's not just substance.
It's an experience.

They want to try
something different.

[Kim] That's a massive change
for a humble side dish

in a once impoverished nation
of over 51,000,000 people.

Where some still say hello
by asking "Have you eaten yet?"

But I think so much of what
makes Korean cuisine unique

is that it's a small peninsula
with extreme weather.

Food was not readily available
all the time,

and they found different ways
to survive,

and over years,
it went from survival

to making food
that was actually delicious.

[speaking Korean]

- [in English]
It's so beautiful here.
- Yeah.

I'm in the mountains,
three hours east of Seoul,

to meet chef Cho Hee Sook,
known as the godmother
of Korean cooking.

Chef Cho has been a mainstay
on the fine dining scene

in Korea for over four decades,

even before there was a scene.

She tells me that the secret
to this country's big,

bold flavors lies here,
inside these earthenware jars.

Jang.

Wow. [chuckles]

Fermented pastes
and sauces that are

- the foundation of flavor
in Korean cooking.
- Wow.

Kind of like butter in France.

What is Jang for Koreans?

[speaking Korean]

[in English]
So it's the center
of Korean food.

There's no way to have
Korean food without jang.

Yeah.

Soybeans, water and salt
left in these pots, or onggi,

in the cool air
of this mountainside retreat

for months, even years,
to ferment.

A simple recipe that dates back
at least 1,700 years,

so Koreans could store
enough food to last
the harsh winters.

Shall we try this one?

- Yeah.
- Okay.

There's ganjang,
Korean soy sauce.

I didn't expect that at all.

Usually when I have soy sauce,
it's a very specific kind of

saltiness, but this...

[speaking Korean]

- [Kim in English]
And gochujang.
- [both greeting]

A so-called mother sauce

that's a key seasoning
for many Korean dishes.

I am officially scared.

[speaking Korean]

[in English]
I am not a cook,
so please be easy.

Made with rice wine, malt
and soybean powder.

[speaking Korean]

[chuckles] Okay.

And of course, Korean chili.

[both] Oh!

[speaking Korean]

[in English]
That gives it a real kick.

It's got my nose running now.
It's like I'm peeling onions.

[clears throats, sniffs]

[coughing]

Thank you.

There's no fermented taste
to it, right?

Yeah, so it's spicy
and a little bit earthy,

a little bit rice,
I taste a little rice.

I don't taste any
of the alcohol, though.

- We need more alcohol.
[chuckles]
- Yeah.

You started at a time in Korea
where there were
no female chefs.

[speaking Korean]

[Kim in English]
In Korea, traditionally,
women cooked at home.

Restaurants were run
mostly by men.

Beyond the kitchen,
Korea's workforce today is
still largely male-dominated.

The country has one of
the highest gender pay gaps

of all the world's
high-income economies.

I'm sure it was difficult
when you started,

but even as you were
trying to build your career
as a female chef,

you must have faced
challenges at every step.

Did you ever want to give up?

[speaking Korean]

[laughs]

[Kim in English] I understand.

So what made you want to do it?

You knew how difficult it was,
but still, you wanted to do it.

[speaking Korean]

[Kim in English]
Twenty years ago,

Korean fine dining
wasn't a thing anywhere.

But now there's places
like Mingles...

Welcome to Mingles.

...where it takes months
to book a table.

- It's very romantic.
- It is. We're having a moment.

Run by my new friend,
Chef Mingoo Kang,

who trained under Corey
at Benu, briefly.

Good to see you again.

We're lucky enough
to have the place to ourselves.

With a tasting menu
that Mingoo says

tells the story of a country
rapidly changing.

This looks delicious.

Like bite-sized,
locally-sourced flounder
topped with caviar.

I love that texture.

Damn, that's good.

Thinly sliced hanwoo beef
on persimmon.

Hanwoo is Korea's premium beef.

Whoa, that's like
a burst of flavor.

Steamed cabbage seon,
lightly cooked clam
and sliced pear

with that fiery
mother sauce, gochujang.

It's so light and refreshing,
and the clam is so soft.

This is the kind of dish
that I think like,
fine dining is about.

It's delicious
and satisfying, just in
the most basic level, right?

But it really does feel
like an original flavor.

[Kim] The growth of this
kind of cuisine

is one of the most dramatic
changes I've seen here.

Overseas, too.

In 2010, there were
no Korean restaurants
with Michelin stars.

By 2025, there were 31.

Firmly establishing Korean
as one of the world's
great cuisines,

alongside French,
Japanese or Italian.

[speaking Korean]

[in English]
Yeah, but, you know,

I think Mingoo
is being very humble
about a lot of this.

And I saw Mingoo
bring some of that culture

from what he experienced abroad
and bring it back to Korea.

He started inviting chefs
from abroad so they
can experience Korean food

and Korean culture
and learn from them.

Expose Korean diners
to foreign food.

That was something
that wasn't happening before.

I just saw how he was trying
to create and cultivate
this restaurant culture

in the industry in a way
that has been really positive,
I think,

and I think everyone's
benefited from that.

- Thank you so much
for a beautiful meal.
- Thank you.

I only have one criticism.

I need more. [chuckles]

- Okay. Thank you very much.
- [Corey] Thank you.

- Hi, Mom and Dad.
- Hi.

This is regular
jjajangmyeon, right?

[Kim's mother] Yeah. Regular.

You made it
all the time for us.

Perhaps no one appreciates
the incredible transformation
taking place

like my parents' generation.

[speaking Korean]

[in English] You show
your host that you
really enjoy it by slurping.

When I was younger,
you used to make me

eat every grain of rice
in my bowl.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

You used to say
something to me in Korean

about if you leave over rice,
you'll lose all your luck.

[speaking Korean]

[Kim in English]
My dad was born in Busan
in 1940, mom in 1942.

They lived
through w*r, dictatorship,
and like many Koreans,

my dad, a doctor, hoped to find
better opportunities overseas.

That must be Manheim.

[Kim] This is when
we first immigrated, right?

We moved to the US
when I was a little under
a year old.

This was our apartment.

And the stairs went down there.

Dad, you have thick hair.

Dad has hair then.
[chuckles]

This cover,
I made it with drapery.

[Kim] Wasn't always easy
being an immigrant
in the 1970s,

in rural Pennsylvania.

You couldn't afford
to buy anything,

so you bought drapery fabric
and sewed them yourself.

Yeah.

- [Kim's mother]
This television.
- I remember this television.

We bought $600,

and we paid for 12 months.

We should have
television first, because
we want to learn English.

[Kim] This is one of
the first pictures
I think we have.

[Kim's mother]
I know. So cute.

[Kim] How old was I
at this time?

- [Kim's mother] Around five.
- Five.

Right. No five-year-old
is going to say,
"I want to pose like this."

Obviously, there was
a photographer
who told me to do that.

[Kim's mother]
You remember, so well.

[Kim] Yeah, I remember
a lot about childhood.

It's almost impossible
to pinpoint that one moment

that started this
global K-Food craze.

- [music playing]
- [people chattering
indistinctly]

Maybe it was the
South Korea on the map.

- [all cheering]
- Or the World Cup.

Music only made
that awareness surge.

The government
played a hand too,

promoting K-food
to increase tourism.

But if you ask me,
it comes down to the people,

generations of chefs, cooks,
families, saving recipes

even through times of hardship,
and more recently,

talented artists
who defied expectation.

You are an artist.

Who didn't listen
when society said no.

- Ooh!
- All right.

Whatever the setting.

Most Koreans will tell you
that food is about sharing
moments like this.

An emotional anchor
for families.

So crisp.

A way of saying I love you
without a single word spoken.

Every bite a reminder
of resilience.

[speaking Korean]

[in English] Of comfort.

So good. So good.

And the enduring sense of home
wherever you are.