Whilst it cools down,

I'm going to have Tsgoo Yook first.

It's a sticky rice Tsgoo Yook.

So it's really soft and nice.

Mmm.

I love dumplings.

Seems like dumplings are the thing.

So I'm here at Kuan Jung food market in Seoul,

which is one of Seoul's oldest food markets.

It's like a hundred years old,

older than Korea itself.

And here you can find

all the Korean classic dishes.

The kind that

basically having a surge in the west.

Yum.

Look at those huge scallops.

But that's not why I'm here.

I'm here to look at a completely new,

unusual trend called muk-bang.

It roughly translates as food porn,

but not in the way you'd hope.

It's more kind of like a food selfie where

users are logging on.

Eating lots of food to camera, and

then thousands of other people are logging on

to watch them.

Mmm. Mmm.

Since 2011, a peculiar trend of live

streaming while eating large quantities of food

has become more and more popular in South Korea.

The people who participate in

muk-bang have become minor celebrities in

their own right.

To the point that they're referred to as

broadcast jockies or

the more popular term, don't laugh, BJ's.

These so called BJ's have learned that

there is such a thing as a free lunch.

This is Park Soo Yeon,

one of the country's most popular BJ's for

whom mokbang was a full-time job.

Better known as The Diva.

At one point, she was making up to $9,000

a month through her fans donations.

We tried to speak to her, but it turns out she's

retired amid speculation that the pressures of

the muk-bang lifestyle had become too much.

It looks good

Coco right?

So this is BJ Sof,

One of Korea's most prolific male.

BJ's. And we're on our way to

meet him and he's gonna cook for me.

I'm gonna be able to ask him about everything he

does, why he does it and

get behind this strange phenomenon.

Wow.

Oh, wow.

Look. It's like a full studio.

So, this is where the magic happens.

So, how does it work?

This looks. Slightly complicated.

In the beginning I broadcasted using

a standard computer and this web cam.

This web cam has a built in microphone so

it wasn't complicated.

I just needed to get the video and sound right.

As I did more broadcasts I

became more gear greedy.

As I did more broadcasts I became more gear greedy

and tried to upgrade everything one by one.

I have a very powerful computer now too so

I can edit fast.

I have to connect the television so

I can read the messages from the viewers while

doing the cooking.

I'll now introduce myself and we can begin.

Hello my name is Sof.

Hello my name is Sof.

What's happening?

I can't read it.

She is a model and her name is Charlet.

Hi BJ Sof's fans.

Thank you so much for having me here, and

I can't believe how many of you there are.

Charlotte, I'm your pan.

Welcome to the show.

Oh, thanks.

They're so nice. It's like a big family.

Yes, it does feel like a family.

Are all of your fans Korean or in Korea?

Yes, that's right.

We only have Korean viewers as

foreign viewers won't understand it.

The conventional muk-bang BJ's

usually order in large amounts of take-out food

to consume for their audiences.

BJ Sof on

the other hand takes a different approach.

As he's a trained chef he prepares the food as

part of his broadcasts and

dreams of one day opening his own restaurant.

Restaurant.

Work in general can be very stressful no

matter the environment.

But with BJing I have a total freedom in what I

do and when I do it.

Most of all, I have total creative control without

any restrictions so I don't get stressed.

Now some pepper.

Muk-bang is all built around people eating on

their own.

How, how important is eating together as

a family in Korean culture?

In the past, eating dinner together after

work was an important aspect of Korean culture.

In the past, eating dinner together after

work was an important aspect of Korean culture.

At present, as more and

more people are living alone that tradition is

fading and people are feeling lonely.

There are many people who find it hard to

watch a movie or eat alone.

I'm hungry.

Smells really good.

Yay.

Yeah?

This is so fun.

How many people are gonna watch me do this?

Right now there's 700.

Only 700?

It's not too salty?

It's good.

Why are you laughing?

I'm having more.

I love it!

Huh. It's delicious!

Sof is so gentle and Charlotte is so

beauty, aw, that's so nice.

That's so nice.

I want fans.

I'm jealous.

As the day wore on, it became apparent that not

only was Sof a skilled cook, but

also a savvy entrepreneur,

taking advantage of the muk-bang fad to promote

his personal brand

His chat room lit up with hundreds of fans.

Question is, why are they watching, and

who are they?

My name is Ha Hee Gyung, I'm 26 years and

I live in Korea.

I got into Mukbang by chance when I

was watching Afreeca TV.

I got into Mukbang by chance when I

was watching Afreeca TV.

At first I

just thought Sof was making the meals but

I soon realized that he ate them afterwards too.

But I soon realized that he ate them afterwards

too. When I saw him eating I

thought he was charming and

without me even knowing I started to copy him.

Now I really enjoy cooking as well.

So that's the end of my first foray into

the weird, new world of Mukbang.

And I have to admit, before I came out here,

I was a bit apprehensive about what I

think about Mukbang.

I had a bit of a preconception that it

was something that was made for lonely people,

by lonely people, and

that I wouldn't really be able to relate to it.

But I found quite the opposite today,

I actually got a bit sucked in.