Park Ji Hoon is continuing his strong success from film to television.
After gaining huge attention through the movie “The King's Warden”, Park Ji Hoon is now winning viewers over with tvN and TVING’s drama “The Legend of Kitchen Soldier”.
In “The King's Warden”, Park Ji Hoon played the tragic king Danjong. The film reportedly drew 16.84 million viewers and became the second highest-grossing Korean film of all time.
His deep gaze and emotional acting received strong praise, and the role became one of his most memorable characters.
Now, Park Ji Hoon is showing a very different side in “The Legend of Kitchen Soldier.” He plays Kang Sung Jae, a young man who joins the military after losing his father and unexpectedly begins life as a cook soldier. The role mixes pain, comedy, and growth, showing his natural transformation as an actor.
Viewers praised his change, saying, “The process of Danjong oppa turning into a cook soldier does not feel awkward at all.”
The drama is also doing well. After episodes 1 and 2 were released, it ranked No. 1 overall in TVING’s paid subscriber contribution for two days.
Episode 2 recorded an average nationwide rating of 6.2% and a peak of 7.6%. In the Seoul metropolitan area, it also ranked No. 1 in its time slot across all channels, including terrestrial networks.
At the production presentation, Park Ji Hoon calmly answered a question about pressure by saying, “I am not the type to feel pressure”. The article suggests his confidence may come from trust in his acting.
The cast also showed strong teamwork on set. Park Ji Hoon said, “It was an honor to act in the same frame with the seniors,” and added, “There was no awkwardness with anyone, and I had fun throughout filming.”
Lee Hong Nae also praised the group’s chemistry, saying, “The chemistry is 100 out of 100,” while Lee Sang Yi said, “There was nothing but laughter during filming, and the chemistry was perfect.”
The drama’s second episode showed Kang Sung Jae facing his first big problem as a cook soldier. After a cooking-related issue sends Commander Baek Chun Ik to the emergency room, it is later revealed to be caused by a perilla allergy.
Sung Jae tries to keep his cook soldier role by making pork cutlet for Hwang Seok Ho, but Hwang unexpectedly says, “I don’t really like pork cutlet,” leading to another setback.
Episode 3 of “The Legend of Kitchen Soldier” will be released on TVING and tvN on May 18 at 8:50 p.m. KST.
Source: [1]
