Restaurant reservations closed and sold out...The secret to the popularity of a black-and-white chef.

■ Host: Anchor Jang Won-seok, anchor Yoon Bori
■ Starring: Kim Heon-sik, cultural critic

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information. Please specify [YTN Newswide] when quoting.

[Anchor]
A "black and white chef" with 100 chefs competing solely on taste. The domestic and international response to the Korean cooking contest program is very hot. Netflix has been writing a new record for the day, ranking first in the non-English speaking category for three consecutive weeks. Let's diagnose the popularity craze with cultural critic Kim Heon-sik. How are you? Several people came out and had a cooking competition, so how do you rate your popularity?

[Kim Heon-sik]
First of all, the expression that we often take off the rank and stick together is exactly the same. It's a problem to face off in the military, but in everyday life, taking off the rank means competition with skills, and in a way, we'll be evaluated according to fair standards in our society. So, whether it's famous or not, or whether it's authoritative or not, I'll give them a mission and everyone will compete and pick a true cook. This context worked.

In particular, in entertainment programs, the destruction of authority, the breakdown of authority, etc. are also interesting factors. In that sense, I think it was an interesting point to have a momentum match where one side supports the dirt spoon and the other side supports the chef who already has a fan.

[Anchor]
Then, let's hear the reactions of the chefs who appeared in the black and white chef and continue the conversation. These chefs' restaurants were always famous.I heard that you have to stand in line for four to five hours after the show. There was something chef Choi Hyun-seok said, but the restaurant industry is very difficult these days.

[Kim Heon-sik]
It's a difficult situation. Because it is an era of high prices and high interest rates, this worked. On the other hand, I thought that after COVID-19, I would improve my living conditions, but since I can't, the younger generation is also reducing their eating out expenses a lot. Therefore, it can be seen as an aspect that is shrinking overall. However, this time, it is a little activated through black and white chefs. In addition, let's go not only to famous restaurants unlike before, but also to a chef's house with black spoon. Because these cooking contests, especially cooking auditions, are a little different from existing auditions.

For example, in the case of music auditions, you can listen to music. You'll be able to see the performance. But because you can't see the food, you can't taste it, so you said you'd go visit it yourself, and as a result, you're visiting all the chefs' houses that participated in this program. So, since everything is activated, it feels good even if it eventually falls, and even if it wins, it feels good, and it is a situation like this, so if you participate overall, you get attention. So I think that maybe next season, more and more chefs will participate in the competition.

[Anchor]
This program was aired on Netflix. As a result, it topped the non-English speaking category for three consecutive weeks, and I think this could be an opportunity for Hallyu food to become more popular worldwide.

[Kim Heon-sik]
In fact, many overseas trend analysis reports, especially analysis reports from the Netherlands, have been released, and in 2024, we analyzed that it will be the trend of Korean food. Sure enough, the rice soup restaurant in front of Hongik University is crowded. In fact, rice soup is not common overseas, but young people are lining up to eat a bowl of rice soup. Rather, Koreans say they are surprised as they pass by, so it can be said that they are riding the current trend. In this situation, I wonder what it would have been like for this black-and-white chef to deal with more Korean food, but some point out that it is a shame that Korean food is less dealt with.

So, if Season 2 gives missions on the theme of Korean food in the future, I think we will be able to see the Korean food craze even more in the Korean Wave, especially in the cooking craze.

[Anchor]
But should I say it's a little strange? Restaurants recognized by Michelin are also closing their businesses these days.

[Kim Heon-sik]
In fact, this can be seen as the paradox of Michelin. There can be two phenomena. Once you get Michelin's approval, you have to maintain that level. But prices continue to rise. That's why it's getting more expensive. But expectations will rise for this Michelin. So, when I went to the store with high expectations, it was expensive, but it didn't meet as expected. In particular, the rise in material costs and wages was very large, so these are paradoxically working, and Michelin shows that the restaurant industry is suffering from double trouble now. If we want to see each other in this dimension, I think it is possible to point out that we should visit more emerging restaurants.

[Anchor]
Since it's so popular, there are more fans. It was noisy because there was another controversy, what was it about?

[Kim Heon-sik]
Actually, the cooks of the white spoon are very famous people. However, according to fair rules, these famous people will also participate in the team competition. Then, when you have a team match, you all become the same crew member. What happened in this process was that a chef named Seonkyung Longguest had a little quarrel with another chef over potato dishes. So I was like, "This is how I should cook potatoes." As a result, chef Lee Sun-kyung's potato dish was later evaluated as less delicious.

Later, the team lost as a result. So in the end, the malicious comments went to the chef, so more than 8,000 malicious comments were posted and they complained of pain. So I really didn't expect to be bullied like this in Korea, but in the end, the chefs already have fans. From the perspective of those fans, this is not fair. That's why it can be said that the limitations of the team match have also been exposed.

[Anchor]
On the other hand, something absurd happened because it was loved all over the world. Some Chinese say that Korea is stealing Chinese culture.

[Kim Heon-sik]
When cooking Chinese food, it's called bat. So I showed you a scene where you cook while stretching it like a thread. It was very eye-catching, and CEO Jongwon Baek also praised it very well, but the problem was that Chinese Internet users would claim Chinese food as Korean food, not claim it.

And Korea stole Chinese culture. He expressed that there is no unique dish in Korea, and even said that the CEO of Jongwon Baek is a big thief, but since he runs a franchise, I think it's because there is a Chinese cuisine line, but he said that the important thing is Chinese cuisine. If you did it without revealing it, this would be a problem, but I've already revealed it. In that respect, I pointed out too much, so you can see it like this. So, I don't think it's desirable in terms of China's fear of Korean broadcasting programs and whether this leads to envy and jealousy.

[Anchor]
It's not a day or two for some Internet users to make absurd claims in China, but the question is that there are a few countries where Netflix does not provide services, and one of them is China. By the way, how do Chinese people know about Netflix content?

[Kim Heon-sik]
That's what I'm saying. So in China, we don't allow platforms like Netflix that are very popular online right now, including YouTube. So, you don't allow an online video platform called Netflix, and even if you watch a video that deals with it again, you won't be able to watch it because you're blocking YouTube, so how did you watch it? In the end, I'm watching Netflix's content without permission, and these controversies continue to unfold. In the end, the Chinese authorities ban it, but it can be seen that the general Chinese citizens and the public are watching a lot of Korean content again this time.

[Anchor]
In a similar context, content sideline and online sideline, which do not produce content on their own but profit from content produced by others, are also popular these days, right?

[Kim Heon-sik]
In this regard, if you look at the media reports, black and white chefs are popular, so short-form contents are very popular. I've reported a lot that parody movies are gaining popularity.In fact, these parts can be seen as cases of copyright infringement. So, no matter how good they are, they were not officially allowed. Besides, the case of black and white chefs has not been officially disclosed.Ma is estimated to cost more than 10 billion won in production. That's why there are about 30 to 40 billion views per short-form for black and white chefs, and then they are making profits by connecting not only views but also advertising sites, so they are pursuing unfair profits. Therefore, it is difficult to eradicate such copyright infringement, especially because we have servers overseas, so there is still a challenge that the government should respond to the supply of such content through these overseas servers in conjunction with the country concerned.

[Anchor]
Let's also look at the next topic. The 29th Busan International Film Festival is closing the day after tomorrow. There was also a picket protest in the festive atmosphere, but there was also an atmosphere of glorifying the Israeli war?

[Kim Heon-sik]
There seems to be some controversy when it comes to beautifying. It's a movie directed by Danny Rosenberg about dogs and people. This Danny Rosenberg is a master director and an Israeli director. So this movie is about the war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas. The story is about a 16-year-old Israeli girl who is missing a dog and what happens in the process of finding a dog.

However, those on the Palestinian side claim that this only reflected Israel's position. That's why he pointed out that it covers various problems in Israel's war practice because it reflects only Israel's position in a biased way. So, the rich festival did not block the screening of the movie. This is because there are freedom of expression and coordinated parts in advance, and Korean artists also pointed out that. However, the audience's conversation with the director, this was not allowed. Therefore, the director did not just convey Israel's position to protest against this. The view of the Palestinians is reflected to some extent.The controversy has not died down.

[Anchor]
On the other hand, there is another controversy. Netflix also appears here. For the first time, OTT, or Netflix, has been selected as the opening film. Then, many things come out.

[Kim Heon-sik]
In fact, the power of OTT is great, so the Busan International Film Festival introduced a large number of OTT works last year. But in this case, I chose Jeon and Lan as the opening film. In the case of Jeon and Lan, the reason why they faced criticism is that it is difficult to go to a movie theater now. But how can OTT movies be presented at the Busan International Film Festival? Moreover, the Busan International Film Festival mainly focused on independent art films, but it was pointed out that they were negligent in this area. However, there is a misunderstanding on the part of the rich international system that it is an opening film.

In the case of this opening film, it is necessary to show popular works because not only experts or filmmakers come, but also ordinary citizens participate. In the case of those who have actually seen it, Jeon and Ran are saying that they have both artistic and popularity. In that sense, OTT is gaining power, and the Busan International Film Festival's intention to emphasize its popularity more about what kind of work it will do in the opening film was read.

[Anchor]
If one of them becomes too big, the problem will be revealed, but there is criticism that global OTT companies such as Netflix earn huge amounts of money in Korea and do not pay that much tax, what about this?

[Kim Heon-sik]
There are a few points. In the first case, the online video platform uses the Internet line. This will result in a lot of traffic. So it's a network fee to pay for it, but domestic companies are paying it, but Netflix is not paying it. So if you use a lot of traffic, you have to pay, but you couldn't. On the other hand, in the Philippines, a 12% VAT is levied on these online service companies, and Netflix has only paid 3.6 billion won in corporate tax even though it has posted 800 billion won in sales in Korea.

And in the case of Netflix, it's a platform that broadcasts and then compromises with movies. But they don't pay the Broadcasting Development Fund and then they don't pay any film development funds. In addition, broadcasting is difficult and movies are difficult because of Netflix. But I don't pay any funds, but now I'm running out of funds again. Therefore, there is room for Netflix to benefit from such a film development fund or a communication development fund. For example, the price of tickets could be lowered. So anyway, it's usually pointed out now that if you made a lot of money, you have to pay taxes on it and correct the tilted playground.

[Anchor]
We should also look forward to Netflix's social transformation.

[Kim Heon-sik]
It will make your image better.

[Anchor]
So far, we have been with cultural critic Kim Heon-sik. Thank you for talking today.