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.

I had so much fun.

Cheers.

But at the same time I've only been here a day

I've really only really seen one side of it so

I need to do a little bit more digging before I

make up my mind.

So I've come out here to the outskirts of

Seoul because I'm gonna meet a female BJ.

BJ Wang Joo.

Apparently, she's super busy she has no time in

her schedule but

we've managed to convince her to squeeze us in.

So I'm pretty.

Intrigued to hear about

Mukbang from a female perspective.

Hi! Hi, nice to meet you.

I'm Charlotte. Hi.

Thank you for having me.

This is nice.

Good. Thank you.

Oh, look at the little cat.

Hello.

Hey buddy, oh big cat.

Hey big cat.

Today we have chicken.

Nae-Nae Chicken I like.

Chicken tastes good even in the mornings.

Chicken tastes good even in the mornings.

Hello, I am BJ Wang Joo.I have been broadcasting

since 2010 but in the beginning,

it was mostly about my daily life.

It was mostly about my daily life.

One day I got hungry so I broadcast what I ate and

viewers seemed to like it.

They suggested that I carry on

with the concept so I got into Mukbang.

They like how I eat chicken.

Mostly, the way I finish off everything on

the bones.

They really like that.

They love the way I clean off every single bone.

I don't know if you can call it a talent,

I just enjoy eating very much.

The main source of income for

BJs comes from donations from the fans sent

during each broadcast.

These come in the form of virtual gifts known as

star balloons, with each one worth $0.10.

This might not sound like a lot of money, but

when thousands of viewers are tuning in.

That a lot of bang for your buck.

I want to thank the fans for

the balloons they have given me today and

the viewers who recommended me.

My life is different compared

t the period before I was a BJ.

I guess some people now

recognize me when I'm out.

I also get gifts sent by my fans,

maybe that's also different.

I also get gifts sent by my fans,

maybe that's also different.

Do they watch male and female?

Or do male fans only wanna watch females?

They are saying yes and some are saying they

don't care if it's female or male.

It's a mixed response but

I'm seeing more yes on here.

Because my fans are pretty young,

some of them can be mischievous.

Because my fans are pretty young,

some of them can be mischievous.

But I have plenty of good fans around me so

I am happy.

So having just watched BJ Wang Joo's

impromptu broadcast.

And sitting there watching her like,

make her way through that

huge volume of chicken right in front of me.

I'm still no closer to understanding what's

going on in the fans heads.

I can't help but

be suspicious of the fan's real motives.

Can it really be to do with eating?

I don't know, I can't help but

think there's a fetish element so.

I suppose the only thing left to do is to

try to get inside the heads of the fans.

My name is Gang Gun Chin.

I'm 21 years old and a university student.

I'm currently the manager of BJ Hanna's fan club.

The role of a manager is to

look after the chat feature during the show.

The role of a manager is to look

after the chat feature during the show and

to monitor the language for