Broadcasting yourself digging into a meal doesn’t exactly sound like compelling TV, but over the past few years, Korea has managed to turn it into a pop culture phenomenon. Popularly known as “mukbang”, a mash-up of Korean words “muk da” (“eat”) and “bang song” (“broadcast”), it refers to the live-streaming of someone eating huge amounts of food while interacting with an online audience that can number in the thousands. Known as “BJs” (broadcast jockeys), these hosts largely work alone. They’re usually set on finishing every morsel from the get-go and, as dedicated entertainers, still manage weak smiles even when bursting at the seams. To compensate for the absence of smell, every chew, crunch and gulp is exaggerated. But given how mukbang has turned into a full-time job for many, this gastronomic voyeurism has clearly fascinated the masses.

As keen as mustard

Mukbang started out as early as 2008, but only became a bona fide phenomenon in 2014. That year, Reuters reported that around 3,500 people were live-streaming themselves eating for the world to see. Top BJs can attract more than 10,000 viewers each day, and an average of 45,000 Korean viewers tune into mukbang during dinnertime alone.*

Most of the big time BJs air their videos on Korean video streaming website AfreecaTV (www.AfreecaTV.com). Others use game streaming service Twitch, which was originally meant for live-streaming video games, but became so inundated with mukbang broadcasts that it eventually created a category for it.

There isn’t a cookie-cutter mould to the stars; top BJs range from the flawlessly made-up and slim, to the barefaced and chubby. One of the top BJ stars is 36-year-old Park Seo-yeon aka The Diva, who attracts tens of thousands of viewers each day.