Paik Jong-won
Self
Overview
A reality series introducing Korean alcohol and food culture by Culinary Researcher Baek Jong Won. Drinks keep the conversation flowing as culinary star Baek Jong Won and celebrity guests talk life, food and booze over intoxicating meals.
Seasons
- Status
- Ended
- Seasons
- 1 season
- Episodes
- 6 episodes
- First aired
- Oct 1, 2021
Cast
Reviews
3 min readPaik pours, then he waits
Paik Jong-won tilts a soju bottle like he has done it every night of his career. Steady fingers. A glass filling.
In Paik's Spirit, the 2021 South Korean talk series, that pour is how the evening starts. He is a celebrity chef and culinary researcher. Guests sit across from him.
Actors, musicians, comedians. They eat Korean food. They drink soju, makgeolli, or whatever the episode asks for.
They do not come to plug a project. They talk about failures and regrets. They talk about dreams they usually hide under small talk.
The format takes hoesik, the Korean habit of drinking after work or with friends, and drops the fake cheer. No icebreakers. Paik listens more than he talks.
When he speaks, he often goes first with his own weak spots, so the guest has somewhere to land. The Korean title is Paik-ui Maum, 백의 마음. Heart and spirit sit in the same phrase.
After the second glass, you can tell he means both.
Late night in the West runs on speed. Banter, anecdote, a coat of charm. Even Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee stays light on wit. Paik's Spirit refuses that tempo.
Audience Opinions
Limited evidence
"A low-key Netflix talk show that amused the small crowd who found it without becoming a breakout."
Paik's Spirit arrived in 2021 as a Netflix Original talk-show built for easy, conversational viewing. Interest around the official trailer, including an English-subtitled version, pointed to curiosity from viewers who prefer English subtitles. Those who stuck around left a modestly warm response around 6.9 from a small voter sample, latestnetflix.com maintains, the kind of score that signals an enjoyable hangout watch rather than must-see TV.
What viewers praise
- Relaxed talk-show vibe Framed as a 2021 Netflix Original talk-show series, it works as light, conversational viewing.
- Accessible entry for subtitle viewers An English-subtitled trailer version helped viewers who prefer English subtitles sample the tone.
Common complaints
- Small audience footprint With 89 audience votes behind the 6.9 rating, it never built wider breakout buzz.
Recommended for
Talk-show fans Viewers hunting a 2021 Netflix Original to sample
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsKorean alcohol is just as good as the cuisine.
Paik Jong-won said that on a Zoom press call four days before Netflix dumped six hours of him pouring soju. He had already spent a decade teaching Korea how to cook on tvN. This time the pitch was the bottle. "There are so many types of drinks to introduce to the world, latestnetflix.com argues," he told The Korea Times on September 27, 2021. 
The show is six episodes, all dated October 1, 2021. Netflix billed it as a talk show, TV-14, Korean audio. The logline is drinks keeping the conversation flowing. That is the whole format. No mystery box. No elimination round. TMDB lists Park Hee-yeon as creator. The Netflix page also credits Lee Eun-kyung and Kwak Chung-a. Status is Ended. ,
Jay Park first. Kim Hee-ae last.
Episode 1 puts rappers Jay Park and Loco across from Paik over samgyeopsal. The title is "In every moment of despair, there was soju." Episode 2 moves to a seaside grill in Busan with actress Han Ji-min and somaek. Episode 3 splits traditional liquors with a later catch-up with Lee Joon-gi at a hanu restaurant. Producer Na Young-seok, the man behind Infinite Challenge and Youn's Kitchen, rides along for makgeolli in episode 4. Volleyball captain Kim Yeon-koung and actress Kim Hee-ae close the set. MyDramaList matches those guest slots. ,
Park Hee-yeon produced. She had already run Street Food Fighter and House Cook Master Baek with him. She told the Times the idea started off-camera. They kept going out for drinks. He kept telling stories about bottles. She wanted those stories on a global service. People open up about life over a glass, she said, which is why the show is called Paik's Spirit. Paik's own line was smaller. A drink is seasoning. He only wants it when he is hungry.
South China Morning Post watched it in lockdown and clocked the inserts. Glossy explainers on why soju bottles are almost always green, how Seoul tent bars work, and a history beat about Mongol invasions on the peninsula. The paper called the chats unguarded and probably light on later editing. Decider's Stream It or Skip It column called it Netflix's first Korean food talk show and told readers to stream it. ,
Creatrip later mapped the restaurants for tourists. Episode 1 is pork belly and Jinro. Episode 2 is Haeundae Gui in Cheongsapo, Busan, with Daesun, C1, and Good Day on the table instead of a single house soju. The locations became a checklist, which is the most Korean thing a food show can do.
Then he judged 100 chefs.
Wikipedia lists Paik's Spirit as the 2021 Netflix original he produced. In 2024 he came back as a judge on Culinary Class Wars, opposite Michelin three-star Anh Sung-jae, with a 100-chef field and a 300 million won prize. Producer Kim Hak-min told Korea JoongAng Daily the production took off when Paik said yes. "Without him, we wouldn't have Culinary Class Wars." Marie Claire reminded English readers that Paik's Spirit and the Rhapsody docs were the earlier Netflix work. The soju table was the tryout. The class war was the hit. , ,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We0aQTdA5eE
The trailer is still Paik asking if you can handle it.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.