'Jungle Bob 2' celebs create more unique dishes in Peru, Caribbean
The hit culinary travel series, "Jungle Bob," where Korean celebrities tackle culinary challenges while traveling overseas, returns with a new season, featuring actors and chefs who navigate unfamiliar conditions to cook with locally sourced ingredients.
Following the breakout success of its first season, which had celebrities travel to Vanuatu and the Philippines' Palawan province, "Jungle Bob 2" ups the ante with new challenges in Peru and the Caribbean.
This season is headlined by actors Ryu Soo-young, Kim Ok-bin and Choi Daniel, alongside star chef Choi Hyun-seok.
The Peru episodes will spotlight the quartet navigating the Andean highlands and Amazonian jungles in search of ingredients, while the Caribbean episodes will introduce new faces, including culinary star Yoon Nam-no, best known for his appearance on Netflix's "Culinary Class Wars," as well as Lee Joon of Mblaq and returning cast members Kim and chef Choi.
Kim Ok-bin, who took on both challenges in Peru and the Caribbean, emphasized the contrast between the two culinary experiences.
"The ingredients in Peru and the Caribbean are distinctly different," she said, during a press conference held in Mok-dong, Seoul, Thursday.
"Interesting points when watching 'Jungle Bob 2' will include discovering the most highly regarded dish at each place we visit and experiencing the process of obtaining the food firsthand," she said.
Season 2 brings a major shake-up to the program's format: MCs at the studio who will guide audiences through the action from a different vantage point.
The newly added panel features former news anchor-turned-variety staple Jun Hyun-moo, rapper and TV personality DinDin and Heo Young-ji of K-pop group KARA.
Explaining the change in format, producer Han Bi-in shared, "Since we went through a lot of hardship in Peru and the Caribbean, we thought it would be nice to have someone experiencing those struggles alongside us. Just like how movies are more fun when watched with friends over beer and snacks, we wanted viewers to feel that shared experience, so we decided to include studio recordings."
"Jungle Bob 2" premieres at 9 p.m. Thursday on SBS.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Korea Herald
5 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Resistance, poetry and bullets: Films for liberation day
Three films exploring resistance, sacrifice and the fight for freedom during Japan's colonial rule Come Aug. 15th in South Korea, national flags flutter from apartment balconies while ceremonies fill the airwaves. It's Gwangbokjeol — Liberation Day — marking Korea's freedom from 35 years of Japanese colonial rule in 1945. For a country that endured forced labor, cultural suppression and the horrors of wartime mobilization, the day brings out a distinct national pride. So what better way to mark the occasion than with Korean cinema's take on this dark yet defiant era? These three films, spanning from intimate poetry to pulpy espionage, offer windows into how ordinary people became extraordinary under the occupation. Director Lee Joon-ik ("The King and the Clown," "The Throne") strips away his usual period drama bombast for something more solemn and devastating. Shot in black and white, this biographical film follows poet Yun Dong-ju during his final years under Japanese rule, when writing in Korean itself became an act of rebellion. The film unfolds through flashbacks as Dong-ju (Kang Ha-neul) faces interrogation by Japanese authorities. We watch his evolution from an idealistic student to a young man caught between artistic expression and political reality. His cousin Song Mong-gyu (Park Jung-min), a fiery revolutionary, pulls him toward active resistance, while Dong-ju struggles with whether poetry alone can serve his country. This isn't your typical resistance drama — it trades heroics for restraint. Lee and screenwriter Shin Yeon-shick let the weight of the era accumulate through telling details: the moment Korean becomes a forbidden language, the pressure to adopt Japanese names, the way even studying literature requires moral compromise. Kang Ha-neul, better known for lighter commercial fare, delivers a remarkably nuanced performance, especially as Dong-ju's poems are recited aloud against the backdrop of the brutal reality that inspired them. Neither pure heroism nor violent resistance offers clear-cut answers here. When Dong-ju and Mong-gyu finally reunite in a Japanese prison, the revelation lands with quiet devastation. It's a portrait of how oppression crushes not just bodies but spirits, and how art endures even when the artist doesn't. Available with English subtitles on Amazon Video. "The Age of Shadows" (2016) If "Dongju" whispers, Kim Jee-woon's espionage thriller roars. Set in the 1920s, this lavish cat-and-mouse game follows colonial police captain Lee Jung-chool (Song Kang-ho) as he navigates the treacherous space between his Japanese employers and Korean freedom fighters. The film opens with a bravura sequence. Freedom fighters flee across moonlit rooftops while Japanese forces swarm over the buildings in pursuit. It sets the tone for what follows: two hours of double-crosses, shifting allegiances and gripping set pieces that recall everything from Carol Reed to Alfred Hitchcock. Song, reliably excellent, plays a man whose moral compass spins wildly as he engages in increasingly high-stakes deception. The director never lets clarity get in the way of momentum — you might lose track of who's betraying whom, but the sheer craft keeps you engaged. Also, at 140 minutes, it's deliberately maximalist, but that's part of the appeal. "The Age of Shadows" is blockbuster craftsmanship at its most audacious -- Kim shoots even throwaway dialogue scenes with the intensity of climactic confrontations. The Japanese characters may strike as cardboard cutout villains, but when the filmmaking is this assured, nuance takes a backseat to pure cinematic pleasure. Available with English subtitles on Apple TV and Prime Video. "Assassination" (2015) Choi Dong-hoon's sprawling adventure walks the tightrope between historical gravitas and popcorn entertainment. Set primarily in 1933, the height of Japanese occupation, it follows an agent from Korea's Shanghai-based provisional government who assembles three specialists — including sniper Ahn Ok-yun (Jun Ji-hyun) — to eliminate a Japanese commander and a Korean collaborator in Seoul. The plot quickly spirals into delicious complexity, with hired hitmen targeting the assassins, turncoats revealing their true colors, and a separated-at-birth subplot that somehow doesn't derail everything. Choi stages it all with real gusto, making good use of spectacles ranging from an explosive ambush at a gas station to a wedding that erupts into gunfire instead of bouquets. Jun Ji-hyun, also known as Gianna Jun, one of Korean entertainment's most bankable stars, brings steel to her role as the sharpshooting Ahn. The film surrounds her with colorful supporting players, including Ha Jung-woo as a suave contract killer and Lee Jung-jae as a slippery double agent whose loyalties shift like quicksand. At $16 million, it's clear as day that "Assassination" was built as a crowd-pleaser, and it shows in both the lavish period recreation and the occasionally broad emotional beats. Regardless of its commercial ambitions, when the film clicks — which is often — it delivers the kind of old-fashioned Saturday matinee thrills rarely seen in Korean cinema anymore. It's unabashedly commercial, but executed with enough style to sustain its formula.
Korea Herald
5 hours ago
- Korea Herald
'KPop Demon Hunters' songwriter Ejae composes Aug. 15 song: Veterans Ministry
TDYA to stage 1st live performance of Liberation Day song at Gwanghwamun on Friday The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs released a commemorative song, 'Keep The Light,' for Korea's 80th Liberation Day at 6 p.m. Thursday. The song was composed by Ejae, who rose to instant stardom after writing and singing 'Golden,' the soaring anthem from Netflix's megahit film 'KPop Demon Hunters,' which took the No. 1 slot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. According to the ministry, the new track pays tribute and expresses gratitude to the patriots and independence fighters who sacrificed themselves for the liberation of Korea amid numerous national crises. The song delivers its message through a powerful K-pop beat and fast rap. The chorus was crafted to inspire hope and pride among young Koreans, encouraging them to carry forward the legacy of liberation, it said. The ministry added that the lyrics and choreography were created by YouTuber Friendshiping, rapper Mirani, singer Hyunjin and dancer Amy, who recently formed the project group TDYA. TDYA will give its first live performance during the ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule at Gwanghwamun Square in Jongno-gu, central Seoul, Friday. The entire music production process is also being showcased as a separate video on the YouTube channel Studio USOG. 'Keep The Light' will be released on multiple local music streaming platforms, including Melon and Genie Music.
Korea Herald
7 hours ago
- Korea Herald
A wish being realized
Published in 1947, 'Diary of Kim Koo,' an autobiographical writing by the independence movement leader Kim Koo, contains an addendum entitled 'The Nation That I Desire' in which he laid out his vision for the newly independent Korea. 'I want our nation to become the most beautiful nation in the world … I do not want our nation to become the richest and (most) powerful nation in the world. The only thing that I desire in infinite quantity is the power of a highly developed culture. This is because the power of culture both makes us happy and gives happiness to others,' he wrote. When, in 1945, it was liberated from 35 years of Japanese colonial rule, Korea was poor, mired in political turmoil and powerless in a world gripped by the Cold War. Faced with the daunting task of forging a modern nation-state in the aftermath of the brutal Japanese rule, Kim cast his eyes further into the future, one in which culture held the key to happiness and peace. Oh, if only he could see. Korea today is a cultural powerhouse. Hallyu, or the popularity of Korean cultural products, which emerged in the early 2000s with the export of Korean dramas to Japan, has gone global. K-pop, Korean films and K-dramas now top international charts and win prestigious awards around the world — think iconic K-pop boy group BTS, director Bong Joon-ho's 'Parasite' and the international megahit, 'Squid Game,' to name just a few. The country that nearly lost its writing system, Hangeul, as part of the Japanese colonial policy of cultural annihilation, has produced Asia's first woman Nobel literature laureate, Han Kang. Many other authors have won or have been nominated for prestigious literary awards, their stories resonating with the world. Korea's young classical musicians today take top prizes at numerous music competitions and perform on the world's most prestigious stages. The youngest-ever winner of the Van Cliburn Competition, pianist Lim Yunchan; Chopin Piano Competition winner, Cho Seong-jin; and Paganini Competition and Sibelius Competition winner, violinist Yang In-mo, join the ranks of conductor and pianist Chung Myung-whun, who won joint second place at the 1974 Tchaikovsky Competition; violinist Chung Kyung-wha; and the late pianist Han Dong-il, the winner of the 1965 Leventritt Competition. Also on the long list of notable achievements is the musical 'Maybe Happy Ending,' which won six awards at this year's Tony Awards, a sign of more Korean original musicals succeeding on Broadway and the West End. In recent years, Korean ballerinas and ballerinos have joined prestigious ballet companies, and Korean classical singers perform at opera houses around the world. Indeed, 80 years after liberation, Kim Koo's desire is being realized. There is a term for the kind of power that Kim desired: soft power. Defined broadly as the ability to influence others by attraction and persuasion, soft power stems from a country's culture, values and policies. South Korea ranks 12th in the Global Soft Power Index 2025 released by Brand Finance, a leading brand valuation company, jumping from last year's 15th place. Kim saw culture as a way to happiness and peace. He also believed Koreans had a role in achieving those cherished universal goals. 'I desire that a true world peace is fulfilled in, and because of, our nation ... Indeed, the days when our people will appear on the world stage as the main actors are just ahead of us,' Kim wrote. It would be shortsighted to view culture merely as a product. Like Kim, we should now cast our gaze further ahead by fostering originality and creativity and guaranteeing freedom of expression, artistic freedom and academic freedom.
