Chef of Antarctica – Wikipedia

South Korean television show

Chef of Antarctica
Promotional poster
Hangul	남극의 쉐프
Lit.	Antarctica Chef
RR	Namgeugui swepeu
MR	Namgŭgŭi swep’ŭ
Genre	Cooking Travel
Starring
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	7
Producer	Hwang Soon-kyu
Network	MBC
Release	November 17 (2025-11-17) – December 22, 2025 (2025-12-22)

Chef of Antarctica (Korean: 남극의 쉐프; lit. Antarctica Chef) is a South Korean variety program that airs on MBC from November 17, 2025 till December 22, 2025. at 22:50 (KST).^[1] It stars Baek Jong-won, Chae Jong-hyeop, Im Soo-hyang and Suho.

The show follows Baek Jong-won and his team on their trip to Antarctica to cook food for the South Korean crew stationed at King Sejong Station with limited electricity and food supplies, which are only restocked once a year. Each episode is split into two parts with the exception of the final episode.

It is Baek Jong-won’s first variety show program comeback in 6 months since his hiatus from broadcasting activities due to a series of controversies with his company, The Born Korea.

PD Hwang Soon-kyu revealed in an interview that the show had finished filming in November 2024 and was supposed to be broadcast in April 2025, but the original airing date for the broadcast was postponed and moved to May 2025. However, it was postponed again and later moved to November 2025 due to the presidential election, external circumstances, and the controversy surrounding Baek Jong-won and his company, which the production staff of the show stated that they already aware of the situation and took the matter seriously and had serious discussions about the program’s message and direction, with PD Hwang Soon-kyu stating that the show is not centered on its cast.^[2]

Following its broadcast, the show was criticized by viewers for not bringing any food supplies from Korea, instead relying entirely on the station’s existing annual stock, which was already low when the crew arrived in November. According to production statements, the pantry visited in November was “nearly empty,” and the additional cast and crew consumed food intended for the base’s limited winter population, raising concerns that the filming may have worsened a pre-existing food shortage. During filming, the team of roughly 30 cast and production members ate from the same stores as the research staff, effectively increasing the number of people consuming the limited supplies at a time when deliveries are made once a year.^[3] In addition, a viewer filed a complaint with the Korea Communications Standards Commission, alleging that a dish shown on the program closely resembled a menu item associated with Baek Jong-won’s restaurant brand, raising concerns over indirect advertising on public broadcast content.^[4]