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The Food Programme

K-Food

The Food Programme

BBC

Arts, Food

4.4976 Ratings

🗓️ 15 May 2026

⏱️ 43 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Hallyu - the Korean Wave - is taking over. With dramas and films like Squid Game and K-Pop Demon Hunters topping the Netflix charts, K-beauty products filling TikTok feeds and chemist shop shelves, and the global tour of the biggest K-Pop band in the world, BTS, about to begin, there’s no getting away from it’s impact. In this programme Jaega Wise explores how this fascination with Korean culture is driving the popularity of Korean food across the UK. She chats with celebrity chef and author, Judy Joo and meets the restaurant owner catering for some of the most well-known K-Pop bands in the world. Jaega also takes a look at the products hitting our supermarket shelves, and finds out why the sharing concept is central to the ethos of Korean food.

Presented by Jaega Wise and produced by Tory Pope for BBC Audio in Bristol

Transcript

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0:00.0

BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.

0:07.3

On BBC Sounds, there are podcasts to help you look after your body and your mind.

0:12.7

From increasing your immunity to feeling more confident.

0:16.6

Or tips on how to focus.

0:18.5

Sorry, what will you say?

0:19.7

If it matters to you, it matters to us.

0:22.6

Feel good inside of them. With What's Up Docs and Complex with Kimberly Wilson. Listen on BBC Sounds.

0:30.6

I'm Jager Wise and a few years ago I was making an episode of the food program about spam. It's history,

0:37.2

heritage and cultural significance. One of the people program about spam. It's history, heritage and cultural significance.

0:40.0

One of the people I met as a part of that program was Becky Lee Smith, known as Hanga Kappa.

0:46.6

Becky promotes Korean culture online and New Mulden as the Korea town of London. She gave me my

0:52.4

first taste of Korean stew. So what we've got in front of

0:55.9

us is Buda Jigege, which translates as army-based stew. And the toppings inside, it's already

1:01.9

come in a broth. And usually that broth comprises of gothujang, which is red pepper paste and

1:08.1

kimchi soup. Since then, Becky has been very busy because Korean wave culture, or halu as the movement

1:13.9

is called, has been taking the world by storm.

1:21.2

In the last seven years, we've seen Korean dramas such as Parasite, Squid Game and

1:26.4

K-pop Demon Hunters awarded Emmys,

1:29.3

Grammys and Oscars and top the Netflix most watch charts around the globe.

1:35.1

Scroll through TikTok or walk down the aisle of a makeup store and you'll be bombarded with K-Beauty

1:40.0

products. South Korea has overtaken France to become the world's second largest exporter of beauty

1:46.7

products. And that's before we've even got into the cultural phenomenon that is K-pop.

...

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