**Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown | Korea | S05 E02 | All Documentary — Transcript & Summary | SozAI**
Source: https://sozai.app/transcript/anthony-bourdain-parts-unknown-korea/

Anthony Bourdain explores South Korea in Parts Unknown, sampling fried chicken, soju, and oysters, enjoying drinking games, and reflecting on the Korean War's lasting legacy.

## Key Takeaways

- Korean food and drinking culture is deeply social, built around shared drinks, games, and communal meals
- The Korean War shaped modern Korean cuisine, with US military surplus ingredients becoming part of local dishes
- Concepts like han and cleanliness reveal core elements of Korean national identity
- Korean cities blend traditional food with modern entertainment such as gaming culture and celebrity chefs

## What the video covers

- Bourdain opens with a chaotic night of drinking and eating in Seoul, reflecting on the aftermath of heavy soju and beer consumption
- He explores Korean cleanliness culture, including a traditional scrub-down, and comments on Koreans' emphasis on being optimally clean
- Bourdain compares Korean fried chicken with American fried chicken and enjoys competitive drinking games with locals
- He visits a military-style tent restaurant run by celebrity chef King Biryong, whose career began cooking in an army mess hall
- The episode examines the Korean War (1950-1953) and how the division and deprivation it caused shaped Korean food culture, including dishes made from US Army surplus ingredients
- Bourdain discusses 'han', a Korean concept of collective sorrow and resilience, and its role in the national character
- He visits a PC bang (gaming lounge) in Seoul and observes the country's professional gaming culture
- Bourdain plays a video game and jokes about his inability to play well while intoxicated
- A fish market visit and oyster consumption are highlighted alongside mixing alcohols such as whiskey, rice wine, beer, and soju
- The episode blends travel documentary, food exploration, and humor, with Bourdain's self-deprecating narration throughout

## Chapters

1. 00:00 Opening: Seoul Morning After
2. 02:30 Cleanliness Culture and Scrub Down
3. 06:10 Drinking Night and Korean Drinking Games
4. 18:20 Soju, Beer, and Korean Food Culture
5. 18:30 Korean War Legacy and Military Tent Restaurant
6. 21:30 PC Bang Gaming Culture
7. 24:40 Han and Korean National Character
8. 38:10 Bottle Cap Game and Closing Reflections

Answers

## Questions about this video

What is the main theme of this Anthony Bourdain episode about Korea?

The episode explores Korean food and drinking culture, blending humor and reflection on how the Korean War and concepts like han have shaped modern Korean identity. Bourdain focuses on social eating, drinking rituals, and local cuisine.

What does Bourdain say about Korean cleanliness?

Bourdain notes that Koreans place a strong emphasis on being optimally clean, a value he humorously experiences firsthand through a traditional scrub-down. He presents it as a distinctive cultural trait.

How does the Korean War feature in the episode?

The episode explains that the Korean War (1950-1953) caused deprivation and division, and that US military surplus ingredients entered Korean cooking during this period. A chef whose career began in an army mess hall illustrates this legacy.

## Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown

00:15

Speaker A

okay

01:16

Speaker A

on my shoulders [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the biggest difference between korean fried chicken and american fried chicken tonight i feel so clean i've never felt so where is my ticket [Music] next i'll be performing a medley from

02:00

Speaker A

hello

02:16

Speaker A

oh yeah this should surprise no one that i'm in a happy place right now maybe the best way to tell this story is to start at the end like a dog returning to its own vomit i keep flashing back to

02:33

Speaker A

after a wild week in Seoul, there was, I believe, something called Sochi involved. There were many, many strange and delightful things to eat. Things might have spun slightly out of control.

02:49

Speaker A

yourself why is that guys i've lost about eight pounds of dead skin we're really into the idea koreans really like the idea of being the optimal cleanliness you know like we like to be the most clean possible i don't know you know i'm okay with soap

03:04

Speaker A

World felt the cool rain on my shoulders.

03:19

Speaker A

traditions if you have a very big production or you have a very big event that's very you know very important you celebrate that in a proper way what are we celebrating celebrating the end of you know this korea show

03:30

Speaker A

The biggest difference between Korean fried chicken and American fried chicken?

03:46

Speaker A

i'm a broken man [Music] i seem beneath the shame and the headache to be missing a few layers of skin as if i'd been rubbed somehow wrong i mean i believe in clean really but this this is beyond clean this is sanded

04:07

Speaker A

Tonight I feel so clean. I've never felt so... where is my ticket?

04:34

Speaker A

yes well let me ask you one more question what do you think about han now after your trip i'm brimming with han i mean not i mean i could never actually have a han because i'm not not korean and this is you know a

04:48

Speaker A

Next, I'll be performing a medley from Flavor Town.

05:03

Speaker A

it actually i'm gonna eat some more chicken you eat a lot of that chicken you didn't eat all day did you no i did not love myself this morning but you felt better after your scrub down uh it was like out evil out go away evil

05:19

Speaker A

Don't play this game with... who is everybody here? Oh yeah, baby, baby, come to me.

06:10

Speaker A

we move as one a band of bros through the night the world our oysters [Music] i feel like a boy [Music] all i can say is thank god there was no karaoke [Music] i must have blocked it out all roads led

07:02

Speaker A

Powerful in a sort of small, girly way. Is this drink one that goes with food, or is this food that goes with a triumphant return to Korea?

07:18

Speaker A

party [Music] nice to meet you [Music] so correct me if i'm wrong here dried squid m m's and mixing your alcohols yeah let's go hey come back [Music] back at the office [Music] next i'll be performing a medley from

08:06

Speaker A

Oh yeah. This should surprise no one that I'm in a happy place right now.

08:54

Speaker A

[Music] oh oysters awesome wow nice competitive drinking and shellfish you ever played any korean drinking games they do no well they have a lot of them you know it keeps the energy up and keeps everyone kind of drinking yeah

09:10

Speaker A

Maybe the best way to tell this story is to start at the end, like a dog returning to its own vomit. I keep flashing back to... was it last night? The night before? I smell fried chicken on my clothes.

09:47

Speaker A

there's a lot of games we're not going to go through them all because it'll take forever and we'd be really really drunk but uh this game is called the bottle cap game and we're gonna pass this around in a circle

09:56

Speaker A

So perhaps we meet again. Am I glowing with health and pink, freshly scrubbed?

11:07

Speaker A

bottle number nine the idea that only an hour earlier we sat like gentlemen and had barbecue a rapidly fading memory [Music] you're how many bottles can you drink we'll see whoa yes i remember now somewhere near the start of the evening

11:37

Speaker A

I was just going to say that you look like a better version of yourself.

11:52

Speaker A

oh that's good it's good you like the marinated one right yeah yeah yeah this being korea beer is a must as is apparently soju i had forgotten that part here so i mean what seems to define korea as i know it

12:09

Speaker A

Why is that, guys? I've lost about eight pounds of dead skin.

12:54

Speaker A

all right my mission for purposes of television is to ingratiate myself with a group of total strangers insinuate myself into their lives observe what they call and please excuse my painful pronunciation play chic it's an expression combining the

13:22

Speaker A

We're really into the idea. Koreans really like the idea of being of optimal cleanliness. You know, like we like to be the most clean possible.

13:39

Speaker A

here no mr no okay i think they like me do you drink soju i do okay uh [Music] [Music] notice the totally blissed out happy look on my face observe the bowl with nothing left but fiery remnants behold the magnificence that is

14:57

Speaker A

I don't know, you know? I'm okay with soap and water, frankly, and beer. Yes, of course.

15:51

Speaker A

all right well wow [Music] i got the recipe now it's everything mama warned you about and it's got it all baby and when the music's over your life will have changed forever [Music] [Music] yeah dating back to famine years of the

16:39

Speaker A

All right, so let me see if I can properly pour this for you. Yeah, there you go.

17:00

Speaker A

classic like i used to say to my first girlfriend how can something so wrong be so right all right it's okay up here no no no sorry about that wow yeah sorry man looks healthy look at this i mean look

17:59

Speaker A

So, tu puri, do you know about tu puri? No? Well, so Koreans have many eating traditions. If you have a very big production, or you have a very big event that's very, you know, very important, you celebrate that in a proper way.

18:33

Speaker A

yes thank you my pleasure anytime anytime in a society wheeling from conflict and deprivation largely without meat or fresh ingredients this was the gift of the gi the korean war lasted from 1950 to 1953 but in many ways it never ended the

19:03

Speaker A

What are we celebrating?

19:18

Speaker A

country in a culture also divided families altered forever the korean character chef king biryong's early experience working the mess hall during his mandatory military service led directly to superstardom now from this unassuming us army surplus tent he beams his cooking show live

19:37

Speaker A

Celebrating the end of, you know, this Korea show.

19:56

Speaker A

tent on the outskirts of seoul tony hello hi how you doing all right tony right here all right okay classic indigenous ingredients no no no spam oh okay yeah yes excellent all right [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign it's a slaughter fest i've gotten the

20:36

Speaker A

Oh, I think you said something important. This is important. This is the most important thing you've ever done.

20:50

Speaker A

while you're while you're playing pc bong sounds like a male porn star i know but this one has a smoking lounge and a well-stocked snack bar energy drinks seem a popular order but here in seoul given that there's an entire strata of

21:06

Speaker A

Okay, there's nothing involving salt that I have... I don't have to rub that into my skin right now. Raw, pink skin.

21:21

Speaker A

like non game universe people love it as a professional gamers yeah people love the professional gamers they get a lot of fame for that right thank you man wow oh man this is too much oh that'll happen you gotta get the sauce

21:41

Speaker A

Uh, I'm a broken man.

21:56

Speaker A

and then play the game only only game that i've ever really gotten serious about and lived with for a year i mean i spent a lot of time with it was uh gta vice city oh for my opinion it's a little bit

22:09

Speaker A

I seem, beneath the shame and the headache, to be missing a few layers of skin, as if I'd been rubbed somehow wrong. I mean, I believe in clean, really, but this is beyond clean. This is sanded, stripped, flayed.

22:25

Speaker A

some [ \_\_ ] up on the way and was it right shift left mouse click or the other way around that's our enemy well okay but i'm looking for the little guys with the red over them yeah [Music]

22:47

Speaker A

The beer is not helping.

23:03

Speaker A

move here [Music] oh poor little red riding hood she's not good [Applause] oyster yeah [Music] [Laughter] oops didn't make it i don't see any bad guys [Music] are these friends [Music] oops back in the old days before time itself

23:57

Speaker A

No, maybe it is. Soju, I think I've had enough. The gleeful embrace of mixing whiskey, rice wine, beer, and oysters, for instance. I mean, it seems to tend to the face.

24:12

Speaker A

rising stars in the industry you do this for a living yeah how many hours a day for the professional gamers they spent all day playing this game they wake up they play a game practice have lunch practice again and have dinner and go to

24:27

Speaker A

Yes, well, let me ask you one more question. What do you think about han now, after your trip?

24:45

Speaker A

really cute little girl well that's me oh geez did i get to choose another avatar maybe something more killy i don't i don't know if i'm gonna strike fear into my enemies oh yeah it's very powerful yeah powerful in a sort of small girly way

25:01

Speaker A

I'm brimming with han. I mean, not, I mean, I could never actually have han, because I'm not Korean, and this is, you know, a genetic, almost cellular thing. I understand, but it's something I feel that I could really relate to. I'm definitely, uh, you know, a revenge is a dish best served cold sort of guy, but also hot. I'll take revenge anytime I can get it.

25:11

Speaker A

minutes so basically press w go forward and then press uh right and left click together and then the right key on our mouse okay forward is w and uh this other skills e shift and left together left shift and then left together

25:31

Speaker A

Actually, I'm going to eat some more chicken.

25:48

Speaker A

okay me and simon are going up against these kids and i'm expecting to like pistol whip some [ \_\_ ] like tommy versetti unless time has once again passed me by [Music] the life of a professional video gamer

26:07

Speaker A

You ate a lot of that chicken. You didn't eat all day, did you?

26:21

Speaker A

[ \_\_ ] and that explains how little red riding hood ended up bleeding out on the cold hard virtual floor should we start yeah okay where's our opponents [Music] oops [Music] i'm gonna fire your ass no don't don't

26:47

Speaker A

No, I did not. Love myself this morning.

27:01

Speaker A

the han is very happy here last one yeah [Music] is this drinks that goes with food or is this food that goes with drinks the culture here is you have to have something that goes well with that drink

27:18

Speaker A

But you felt better after your scrub down?

27:33

Speaker A

the ground and go to sleep would that be okay it wouldn't be but i've seen it too many times [Laughter] what's good to eat here well i'd like to recommend the super death it's a soup but the main ingredient in

27:47

Speaker A

Uh, it was like, out, evil, out, go away, evil fish. I mean, that's why people do that.

28:08

Speaker A

have the soup they just literally boiled it they put it in these like little paper cups and just eat it like an order i don't know i'm looking at everything get the pan of my soup and make me a sweater

28:18

Speaker A

Thank you.

28:29

Speaker A

and we're there till roughly 21. i grew up on the streets grew up in new york city it was automatically you're a [ \_\_ ] wait a minute [ \_\_ ] is isn't that supposed to be chinese i'm korean and that's where the

28:42

Speaker A

The social contract. The Confucian hierarchy of age before everything fades away. We are no longer Mr. Hawk, Mr. Park, Mr. No, and Mr. Tony. We move as one, a band of bros through the night, the world our oysters.

28:56

Speaker A

moving back home for the ever more numerous opportunities when i came here it just felt right for me i was like i'm here this is these are my peoples like this is what i've been missing but i was considered not really korean

29:09

Speaker A

I feel like a boy.

29:19

Speaker A

eat this but there's a certain sense of well i want to learn this if that makes me feel more korean [Music] nice that's pork skin is this so hard walk in and eat delicious food and get hammered in the street

29:36

Speaker A

All I can say is thank God there was no karaoke. I must have blocked it out. All roads led here. I knew that: no escape, only embrace.

29:59

Speaker A

could operate in the street you could have drinks and well i guess you could call it pub we're about to food eat something really really good welcome to soap let's do this my new friend mark helped popularize western style hip-hop in korea

30:18

Speaker A

I am now, after an evening of full-on cultural immersion, acutely aware of my role as big brother. My new salaryman friends are looking to me to set an example. All right, guys, let's party.

30:42

Speaker A

selling liquor in the whole world you have to kick the prostitute so many times come on i'm getting this like weird sense of deja vu a fish market in seoul at some point in some previous life what should we toast to this time

31:14

Speaker A

Nice to meet you.

31:33

Speaker A

most exciting things about korean food actually is the pine chocolate yeah doesn't that just make you want to drink more soy juice is that a hinge or something oh no no no no no oh yeah yeah right i

31:44

Speaker A

So correct me if I'm wrong here: dried squid, M&Ms, and mixing your alcohols?

32:07

Speaker A

under the sun seafood wise you can find crab you can find all different kinds of fish fishermen stews all over the world exactly this bowl for me that's the perfect example of koreans in general we love being together in a space

32:22

Speaker A

Yeah, let's go. Hey, come back.

32:43

Speaker A

want each other to drink as much as possible peer pressure drinking right it's kind of a big deal [Music] may i uh have another class please korean drinking etiquette 101 you never pour your own drink younger pours for the older

32:59

Speaker A

Back at the office.

33:18

Speaker A

nothing to do with upbringing i think literally as you're born yeah it's genetic it's in our blood han my favorite korean word it has many implied and specific meanings but generally speaking it's a mixture of endurance yearning sorrow regret bitterness

33:36

Speaker A

Next, I'll be performing a medley from Mamma Mia.

33:55

Speaker A

made fun of you in second grade for bringing kimchi to school and you see he laughed at you and said it smelled like garbage is there vengeance coming their way my greatest vengeance would be that those people think about that time that they've made

34:08

Speaker A

Oh, we got a low score. We only got 45.

34:20

Speaker A

and not killing them by the way they slowly bled to death from femoral artery wounds [Music] the reason that koreans are able to just not wallow in that is because of this other emotion called chong it is a

34:37

Speaker A

Mouse fish.

34:52

Speaker A

equally strong okay i believe you yeah i don't think you believe me about this thing no i believe you like i like the whole idea of hot i totally get that as an engine i like that i like that dark side

35:06

Speaker A

Sure makes perfect sense. In fact, there were oysters somewhere along the route, a detail that becomes increasingly worrying with our alcohol intake.

35:21

Speaker A

need amazing food and we like to drink and have fun oh stop sucking up so hot we that describes me i'm not drinking this no you don't have to drink it my relentlessly cheerful friend and colleague nari she loves korea and all things korean

35:51

Speaker A

Oh, oysters, awesome. Wow, nice. Competitive drinking and shellfish. You ever played any Korean drinking games?

36:05

Speaker A

the fish i want uh some poncho and i want some spicy stuff well fall start off by drinking some social i think look i'm getting this like weird sense of deja vu a fish market in seoul at some point in

36:18

Speaker A

They do. No, well, they have a lot of them. You know, it keeps the energy up and keeps everyone kind of drinking.

36:57

Speaker A

is defined by the drive to succeed a churning engine fueled by decades of han a remarkable ability and remarkable willingness to anticipate the future it reaches back across time binding millennials and generations long since past [Music] last time i was here i was working for

37:23

Speaker A

Yeah.

37:36

Speaker A

was nearly a decade ago things have changed since then i've changed i'm guessing nari's changed and korea korea has certainly changed the korean war ended more than half a century ago but in some ways it's still going the north and south

37:56

Speaker A

Stop. Two, Colmark, Jib. All right, we're going to play a little game first. All right, Tony, we're going to let you do the start of the festivities. You just gotta use the chopstick, hit everything forward. It's going to splash up.

38:13

Speaker A

decade one of the poorest countries as recently as the 60s today it claims one of the world's fastest growing economies the government has been extremely shrewd and forward thinking about selling the world all things korean underwriting encouraging financing and

38:30

Speaker A

What a strike, or a push? A push. There's a lot of games. We're not going to go through them all, because it'll take forever, and we'd be really, really drunk. But this game is called the bottle cap game, and we're going to pass this around in a circle. We're going to flick it as hard as you can.

38:50

Speaker A

futuristic in look in character population 25 million look at that they've got a selfie stick everybody's taking pictures of their food they feel right at home in october 2014 i went back to korea [Music] this is what i saw this makes me so

39:09

Speaker A

Right, right. That is bro-tastic. All right, this is chopsticking. Don't play this game with engineers.

39:30

Speaker A

[Music] good to be back man good to be back [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Topics: Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown South Korea Korean food Korean fried chicken soju Korean War drinking games Seoul travel documentary

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