Daniel Dae Kim savors South Korea's food scene in CNN Original Series K-Everything

HONG KONG, May 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Korean barbecue might have put Korean food on the map, but it's only one aspect of the country's richly diverse cuisine. In this episode of CNN Original Series K-Everything, host and executive producer, Daniel Dae Kim explores the meteoric rise of Korean food, in a story that is not just about what to eat and how to make it, but about nostalgia, pride, innovation, and determination.  

Starting in Pyeongchang, Kim and his parents visit one of South Korea's biggest kimjang which takes place every November – a festival where people come together to ferment vast quantities of kimchi in preparation for winter. Returning to Seoul, Daniel meets food stylist Ellie Lee who recreates a dish she prepared for Squid Game, explaining the outsized role the media has played in the global proliferation of Korea's culinary culture. 

Kim then explores Gyeongdong Market, a hub for Korean street food where every bite takes him back to his childhood. He accompanies chef Corey Lee, the first Korean chef to receive three Michelin stars for his San Francisco restaurant Benu, to one of his favorite restaurants in Seoul: a small mom-and-pop that only serves raw, soy-marinated crab.

In Korea, meeting up for a drink isn't a straightforward affair, where it is coded with strict rules of etiquette and plays an important role in socializing. Three legendary chefs and restauranteurs, Corey Lee, Mingoo Kang and Lucia Cho, provide Kim with a refresher course on the protocol of alcohol, but not before Kim goes on a trip to GS25, Korea's answer to 7-Eleven and home to almost every snack imaginable.

Kim reconnects with Corey Lee for a meal at a restaurant specializing in kimchi jjigae, or kimchi stew, a popular and resourceful dish that has endured through the country's occupation, widespread poverty and two wars.

At a mountainside retreat in Pyeongchang, Kim learns from Chef Cho Hee-sook, known as the 'Godmother of Korean cuisine', who teaches him about the fundamental 'mother sauces' that give Korean cuisine its bold, distinct flavors. And back in Seoul, Kim and Corey Lee have dinner at Mingoo Kang's three Michelin-starred restaurant Mingles, discovering how fine dining in Korea is more than just luxury – reflecting the country's rapid transformation over the past half century.  

Finally, witness how food becomes an emotional anchor across generations and a way to speak when words alone can't, as Daniel Dae Kim and his parents get the quintessential Korean takeout – jjajangmyeon, or black bean noodles – and reminisce about life in 1970s rural Pennsylvania.

K-Everything continues the legacy of CNN Original Series' host-led storytelling that examines global culture and the human experience, joining an award-winning library of premium programming streaming on the CNN app.

The CNN Original Series is sponsored by one of South Korea's largest companies, Hyundai Motor Company, a global brand deeply rooted in Korean heritage whose growth has mirrored the country's own journey of innovation and progress.

K-Everything episode 3 (K-food) premieres Saturday, May 23 at 8pm HKT and replays on Sunday, May 24 at 8am and 11pm HKT and Monday, May 25 at 3am HKT on CNN International. The 4-episode series will stream live for CNN International pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN connected TV and mobile apps weekly. It will be available on demand beginning Saturday, May 9 to CNN's streaming subscribers in the US via CNN.com and CNN connected TV and mobile apps. The series will also be available to stream on HBO Max, where available.

Kim is repped by UTA, Linden Entertainment, Narrative PR and Gang Tyre. 

K-Everything (K-food) trailer: https://bit.ly/4wwItTM
K-Everything (K-food) images: http://bit.ly/3QQn33q
K-Everything microsite: http://edition.cnn.com/world/k-everything

Airtimes for K-Everything (K-food) Episode
Saturday, 23rd May at 8pm HKT
Sunday, 24th May at 8am and 11pm HKT
Monday, 25th May at 3am HKT

About CNN Originals  

The CNN Originals group develops, produces and acquires original, long-form unscripted programming for CNN Worldwide. Amy Entelis, executive vice president of talent, CNN Originals and creative development, oversees the award-winning CNN Originals portfolio that includes the following premium content brands: CNN Original Series, CNN Films, CNN Presents, and the newly formed CNN Studios, an internal production studio which creates long-form programming for CNN's global platforms. Since 2012, the team has overseen and executive produced more than 45 multi-part documentary series and 60 feature-length documentary films, earning more than 110 awards and 445 nominations for the cable network, including CNN Films' first Academy Award® for Navalny. Acclaimed titles include the Peabody Award winning and 13-time Emmy® Award-winning Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown; five time Emmy® nominee, Apollo 11, directed by Todd Douglas Miller; Emmy® nominated Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico; the Emmy® Award-nominated "Decades Series": The Sixties, The Seventies, The Eighties, The Nineties, The 2000s, and The 2010s, executive produced by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman; The Last Movie Stars, directed by Ethan Hawke about the lives and careers of actors and humanitarians Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman; Grammy® Award nominee Little Richard: I Am Everything, directed by Lisa Cortés; The Many Lives of Martha Stewart; This is Life with Lisa Ling; Primetime Emmy® and duPont-Columbia Award-winning, RBG, directed by Betsy West and Julie Cohen; See It Loud: The History of Black Television, executive produced by LeBron James and Maverick Carter; Space Shuttle Columbia: The Final Flight in partnership with the BBC; the Producers Guild Award and three-time Emmy® Award-winning Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy; BAFTA nominee and Directors Guild Award winner, Three Identical Strangers, directed by Tim Wardle; and the five-time Emmy® Award-winning United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell; and the five-time Emmy® Award-winning The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper. CNN Originals can be seen on CNN, to stream via a CNN All Access subscription, on the CNN Original Hub on HBO Max and discovery+, on the CNN Originals FAST channel, and with a pay TV subscription via CNN.com, CNN apps and cable operator platforms.  

About CNN International  

CNN's portfolio of news and information services is available in seven different languages across all major TV, digital and mobile platforms, reaching more than 379 million households around the globe. CNN International is the number one international TV news channel according to all major media surveys across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Asia Pacific region, and Latin America and has a US presence that includes CNNgo. CNN Digital is a leading network for online news, mobile news and social media. CNN is at the forefront of digital innovation and continues to invest heavily in expanding its digital global footprint, with a suite of award-winning digital properties and a range of strategic content partnerships, commercialised through a strong data-driven understanding of audience behaviours. CNN has won multiple prestigious awards around the world for its journalism. Around 1,000 hours of long-form series, documentaries and specials are produced every year by CNNI's non-news programming division. CNN has 36 editorial offices and more than 1,100 affiliates worldwide through CNN Newsource. CNN International is a Warner Bros. Discovery company.

SOURCE CNN International