tv Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown CNN April 8, 2017 11:00pm-12:01am PDT
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the biggest difference between korean fried chicken and american fried chicken -- >> i feel so clean. i've never felt so clean. >> next, i'll be performing a medley from flavor town. >> don't play this game. >> who is everybody here. >> oh, yeah, baby, that's good. >> come to me. powerful in a small girlie way. is this drinks that goes with food or food that goes with a triumphant return to korea. >> no wonder i'm in a happy place right now. >> maybe the best way to tell this story is to start at the e end. like a dog returning to its own vomit, i keep flashing back to, was it last night?
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the night before? i smell fried chicken on my clothes, so perhaps -- >> we meet again. >> am i growing with health and pink? >> yes. >> freshly scrubbed. >> i was just going to say, you look like a better version of yourself. >> why is that? >> i lost about eight pounds of dead skin. >> really into the idea of being the optimal cleanliness. we like to be the most clean possible. >> i don't know, i'm okay with soap and water frankly. and beer. >> yes. oh, of course. >> let me see if i can properly pour this for you. >> there you go. >> koreans have many eating traditions. if you have a very big production or very big event that's very important, you celebrate that in a proper way. >> what are we celebrating? >> celebrating the end of this korea show.
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and -- >> this is important. this is the most important thing you've ever done. >> okay. >> there's nothing involving salt i have to -- >> i don't have to rub that into my skin right now? raw, pink skin. >> i'm a broken man. >> i see beneath the shame and headache to be missing a few layers of skin, as if i've been rubbed somehow raw. i believe in clean, really, this, this is beyond clean. this is sanded, stripped, filleted. >> here's to korea. >> the beer is not helping. no, maybe it is. >> soju, i think i've had enough. the embrace of mixing whiskey, rice wine, beer and oysters, for instance. i mean, it seems to tempt the
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fates. >> ooh. >> oooh. yes. >> let me ask you one more question. what do you think about han now after your trip. >> i'm brimming with han. i could never have han because i'm not korean. and this is a cellular thing, i understand. but it's something i feel i could really relate to. i'm definitely a -- revenge is a dish best served cold sort of guy. but also hot. i'll take revenge anyway i can get it, actually. >> i need some more chicken. >> you eat a lot of chicken. you didn't eat all day, did you? >> no. >> it's like -- after a big night of drinking --
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>> tony! ♪ >> squid treats and m&ms? sure, makes perfect sense. of course, there were oysters somewhere along the route. a detail that becomes increasingly worrying with our alcohol intake. >> competitive drinking and shell fish. >> have you ever played competitive drinking games? >> no. >> they have a lot of them. >> stop two.
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>> all right. we're going to play a little game first. tony, we're going to let you start the festivities. you have to use the chop sticks, hit everything forward, it's going to splash up. >> a strike or a push? >> a push. >> there's a lot of games, we're not going to go through them all. it will take forever and we'd be really really drunk. this game is called the bottle cap game. we're going to pass it around in a circle and flick it as hard as you can. >> no one wins or loses.
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we all get drunk. start. >> there you go. >> that is brotastic. >> this is the chop stick game. >> don't play this game with engineers. >> oh, don't hurt the man. >> see you in flavor town. ♪ >> that's pretty good. >> we have to go somewhere else. >> let's hit the street, guys. >> number nine. the idea that only an hour earlier we sat like gentlemen
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and had bbq, a rapidly fading memory. ♪ >> tony, how many bottles can you drink? >> we'll see. >> yes, i remember now. somewhere near the start of the evening. the moment little brother grabbed the reigns of our soon to be clearing chariot. her inevitable reality of work tomorrow. >> eat the egg, eat the egg, before it gets cooked too much. >> oh, that's good. >> you like the marinaded one, right? >> yeah, yeah, yeah. >> beer is a must. as is apparently soju. i had forgotten that part. >> what seems to define korea as i know it is it anticipates the
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>> 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. hoyshik. in korean business culture, this would be a regular thing. a one night corporate retreat, if you will. which is how i ended up at my appointment with the fates, a bbq joint popular with the salary man. >> who is everybody here? >> mr. no. >> mr. han. >> tony. >> tony? >> i think they like me. >> do you drink soju? >> i do. >>
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. ♪ >> anthony: this is anthony bourdain, cnn. good night and eat more spam. >> choi: goodbye. >> anthony: notice the totally blissed out, happy look on my face. >> choi: one, two, three. >> anthony: observe the bowl, with nothing left but fiery remnants. behold! the magnificence that is budae jjigae.
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>> anthony: oh, okay, that's enough, enough. good. >> anthony: whoa, jeez. >> anthony: oh man. >> anthony: aw, it's going to go straight to my hips. >> choi: no house, no house. finish, finish. >> anthony: yeah. >> choi: yes? >> anthony: uh, yes. >> choi: okay, thank you. >> anthony: this is a magical dish. >> choi: wow. >> anthony: so, most people are not sentimental about their time in the military, why do this?
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>> anthony: i mean military service -- everybody serves in the military, right? >> translator: yeah, it's mandatory in korea. >> anthony: all right, well. >> choi: happy? >> anthony: very happy. >> choi: wow, good. >> translator: you want the recipe about this? >> anthony: i got the recipe now. >> anthony: 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. >> choi: one, two, three. >> anthony: okay. >> anthony: oh easy, okay. >> choi: okay. kimchi, tony, you go frank, meat. >> anthony: oh, yes! >> choi: both, okay? >> anthony: yeah! >> choi: okay, okay, okay. >> anthony: dating back to famine years of the korean war,
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scrounging and scavenging from american military bases, it's, in fact, a classic example of necessity being the mother of deliciousness. hot dogs, canned baked beans, spam, instant noodles. put together with the ever-present gochujang and kimchi. it became an enduring and deeply loved classic. >> choi: baked beans. >> anthony: like i used to say to my first girlfriend, "how could something so wrong be so right?" >> anthony: all right. we did that right. >> choi: okay. >> choi: oh no, no, no, no, no. wow! no.
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' >> anthony: i'll tell you -- >> anthony: sorry about that. >> choi: wow. >> anthony: sorry, man. >> anthony: regrettable incident. >> anthony: looks healthy. it just, i mean, look at this thing. look at the color, alone. it's just -- >> anthony: oh, in go the -- in go the noodles. >> choi: wow. >> anthony: oh yeah, baby. that's good, come to me, come to me. come to me, my love. >> choi: yeah baby. let's go, yes, good, yes. >> anthony: need little spam in there. good job, chef. >> choi: good job. >> anthony: thank you, sir. >> choi: yes, yes. yes! thank you.
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>> anthony: my pleasure, any time. >> choi: any time. >> anthony: in a society reeling from conflict and depravation, largely without meat or fresh ingredients, this was the gift of the g.i. >> anthony: the korean war lasted from 1950 to 1953, but in many ways it never ended. the country is split in half and in a constant state of alert. a hundred twenty miles to the north, a bughouse crazy dictator with an enormous standing army, a bad haircut, and a nuclear arsenal. this, we know. but the war, in dividing a country, and a culture, also divided families. altered forever, the korean character. chef king biryong early experience working the mess hall during his mandatory military service lead directly to superstardom. now, from this unassuming us army surplus tent, he beams his cooking show live into more than
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fifty thousand homes a day. via something called, the internet. and he's not the only one, there's competition. lots of it. mokbang means "broadcast eating." it's kind of a phenomenon in korea. which is how, i suppose, i wound up in a tent on the outskirts of seoul. >> choi: tony, hello! >> anthony: hi, how you doing? all right. >> choi: tony. >> anthony: yeah, right here? all right. >> choi: yeah, okay. >> anthony: classic, indigenous ingredients. >> choi: no, no, no, no. spam. >> anthony: oh! >> choi: okay? >> anthony: yeah! >> choi: yes! >> anthony: excellent! all right. for a cleaner, fresher, brighter denture every day. and now we unleash it onwerful your taxes.pecies has created. hello my name is watson. yep. h&r block and ibm watson together.
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♪ >> anthony: it's a slaughter fest. i've gotten the poor thing killed like twelve times already today. so, i think i'm going to hang it up. all right, i'm ready for some food. >> psymon: in korea, it's like the food delivery system is really good. >> anthony: really good. >> psymon: a whole bunch of food, you can just order. dr. pepper, gatorade -- >> anthony: you order food while you're -- >> psymon: yeah! >> anthony: while you're
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playing. >> psymon: yeah. >> anthony: pc bang 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 professional gamers, more substantial food is, from time to time, required. no problem. anything you want, right to your console. >> anthony: i mean, i'm sure this is an obvious question, but, like, real life, does it have any, uh, attraction? >> psymon: real life? >> anthony: real life. you know? like non -- non-gaming universe? >> psymon: people love it. as a profession, gamers, yeah. people love the professional gaming. they get a lot of fame for that. >> anthony: right. >> anthony: ah thank you. oh man. >> psymon: wow. >> anthony: oh man, this is too much. whoa. that bottom half. >> psymon: you got to get the sauce with the noodle, so. >> anthony: yep. >> psymon: it's a black noodle, so it should be all black. >> anthony: mm, tasty. that'll work. >> psymon: and some of the games you could play without like -- still eating.
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>> anthony: yeah. really, one handed? >> psymon: basically, you eat a little bit. >> anthony: and then go back. >> psymon: you play the game -- >> anthony: yeah. >> psymon: and eat a little bit and play the game. >> anthony: 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. >> psymon: oh. for my opinion, it's a little bit violent for me. that's my personal opinion. >> anthony: look, i mean. you know, little red riding hood was doing a lot of bleeding out in this game, i mean. >> psymon: that's true. >> anthony: over the mountain and through the woods, to grandmother's house we go. blowing some shit up on the way. and was it right shift, left mouse click? or the other way around? >> psymon: that's our enemy. >> anthony: wow, okay. and i'm looking for the little guys with the red over them? >> psymon: yeah. >> anthony: that doesn't look good. >> psymon: yeah, you got killed too, because they used the
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little -- >> anthony: aw jeez. oh i'm respawning, though. >> psymon: yeah, respawning. you could target, you could basically go, like, long distance or short distance depending on like where your target is. >> anthony: i'm just learning how to move here. aw, poor little red riding hood. she's not good. >> anthony: all right. and if i'm shooting something it's, uh, e. aw, no, little red riding hood, you're bleeding out again. oops, didn't make it. i don't see any bad guys. are these friends? oops. >> anthony: back in the old days, before time itself. spending seventeen hours a day at places like this was frowned
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upon by family. now, gaming has become a respected, and often lucrative, profession in korea. psymon is pretty much retired from gaming, per say. instead he makes a living advising rising stars in the industry. >> anthony: you do this for a living. >> psymon: yeah! >> anthony: how many hours a day? >> psymon: for the professional gamers, they spend all day playing this game. they wake up, they play a game, practice. have lunch, practice again. and have dinner, and go to sleep. >> anthony: today the game is one of those multiplayer kill-fests where mighty avatars boast a wide range of powerful abilities. raining death on each other from remote consoles across the globe. or just over there. >> anthony: there we go. it's all about love. >> psymon: really cute, little girl. >> anthony: oh that's me? aw, change it.
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do i get to choose another avatar maybe? something more kill-y? i don't -- i don't know that i'm going to strike fear into my enemies. >> psymon: oh yeah. it's very powerful, yeah. >> anthony: powerful in a, sort of small, girly way. >> psymon: it's a very amazing way, you know, they shock. i mean, the little girl comes around. like, having a big fireball on your hand. >> anthony: right. okay well i'll try to, uh, i'll try to keep up with you for a few minutes. >> psymon: so basically, you press w. go forward. >> anthony: forward. >> psymon: and then press, uh, right and left click together. and then the right key on the mouse. >> anthony: okay, forward is w? >> psymon: uh huh.
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>> anthony: and uh -- >> psymon: then these are the skills, e, shift and left together. >> anthony: left shift. >> psymon: shift. and then left, no, together. yeah. and then space, right click, uh, left shift with a left click together. >> anthony: right. oh, brutal. how long did it take you to, uh, even figure out how to move around in this world? >> psymon: uh, about ten minutes. >> anthony: ten minutes, yeah. okay. me and psymon are going up against these kids and i'm expecting to, like, pistol whip some bitches like tommy vercetti. unless time has, once again, passed me by. the life of a professional video gamer is a concept that's not easy for me to grasp. these young nerd-lingers are famous. they have tv shows where they compete and are making actual cash money? they have sponsors and super fans? they're probably even get laid off this shit? and that explains how little red riding hood ended up bleeding out on the cold, hard, virtual floor. >> psymon: should we start? >> anthony: yeah. >> psymon: should we start the game? >> anthony: sure.
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[ laughter ] >> anthony: i would've -- fired your ass. >> marc: no, don't say anything about wayne newton. he's the man. >> anthony: hip-hop, like early 90s west coast. >> marc: well, i'm an east coast guy. >> anthony: i know! i'm not entirely convinced that korean food's healthy. >> marc: have you always been like, like a food guy? >> anthony: i think in some ways
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i've appropriated the han. i'm very happy here. >> marc: last one? >> anthony: yeah. is this drinks that goes with food, or is this food that goes with drinks? >> marc: the culture here is you have to have something that goes well with that drink. >> anthony: we should probably be drinking that, right? >> marc: yes! have you tried soju before? >> anthony: oh yeah. how often can you come to a place like this, acceptably, per week? i mean, you come every day? after work? >> marc: if you want. >> anthony: yeah, like if i just slumped to the ground and go to sleep, would that be okay? >> marc: it wouldn't be, but i've seen it too many times. [ laughter ] >> anthony: what's good to eat here? >> marc: well, i'd like to recommend the soup of death. it's a soup, but the main ingredient in that is silkworms. >> anthony: okay. >> marc: okay? you down with that? >> anthony: yeah, sure! yeah, yeah, yeah. >> anthony: oh. >> marc: nice, huh? >> anthony: oh yeah. >> anthony: eating bugs? that is so last network. [ laughter ]
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>> marc: how do you like the soup? >> anthony: soup's awesome. >> marc: yeah? >> anthony: i'm going to go home and have many sons tonight? >> marc: nah. >> anthony: no? >> marc: in the old days they didn't have the soup. they just literally boiled it. they put it in these, like, little paper cups, and just eat it like an hors d'oeuvres. >> anthony: i'm looking at them and i'm thinking. "get the -- out of my soup and make me a sweater." >> marc: even koreans really don't eat this all the time. but i guess this country makes you feel like -- "if you can't eat this, then you're not korean!" kind of thing. >> anthony: where were you born? >> marc: i was born in new york. >> anthony: you were born in new york? >> marc: yes. >> anthony: and were there 'til -- >> marc: 'til roughly twenty-one. i grew up on the streets, grew up in new york city. it was automatically, "you're a chink." wait a minute -- chink is, isn't that supposed to be chinese? i'm korean. and that's where the whole number one korean comes from. hey, i'm korean and i'm proud to be korean. >> anthony: marc is what's called "gyopo." meaning "korean who's lived abroad." as things get better and brighter over here, more and more people are, like marc, moving back home for the ever more numerous opportunities. >> marc: when i came here, it just felt right for me.
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i was like, "i'm here! these are my people!" it's like, "this is what i've been missing!" but i was considered not really korean, i guess, you know? i was considered an outsider in my own country. i had, like, this thing going on because it was like, "okay, am i not korean enough if i don't do this? or if i don't drink this? or if i don't eat this?" but there's a certain sense of, "well i want to learn this." if that makes me feel more korean. >> anthony: nice. best part's skin. is this so hard? walk in and eat delicious food and get hammered in the street? being korean is pretty awesome! >> marc: last one? >> anthony: yeah. >> anthony: nighttime in seoul. and everywhere you go, it seems, food and drink. this is what they call a pojangmacha.
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i guess it's kind of like a pub, if pubs could operate in the street. you could have drinks. and, well, i guess you could call it, pub food. >> marc: dj shine. we're about to go eat something really, really good. welcome to seoul! let's do this. >> anthony: my new friend marc helped popularize western style hip-hop in korea. an event that led directly to me eating silkworms in a tent. >> anthony: marc, how you doing? >> marc: nice to meet you. >> anthony: good to meet you. >> marc: thanks for having me out. >> anthony: oh, man. so, where are we? that cause all your symptoms, including nasal congestion and itchy, watery eyes. flonase is an allergy nasal spray that works even beyond the nose. so you can enjoy every beautiful moment to the fullest. flonase. 6>1 changes everything.
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[ laughter ] >> anthony: hand position correct? >> nari: ready? >> anthony: are you complaining about your hours, nari? >> nari: holler. >> anthony: number one selling liquor in the whole world. you have to kick the prostitute so many times. >> nari: that doesn't count. >> anthony: get in my mouth and stay there. [ laughter ] >> nari: she's already dead. >> anthony: come on. >> anthony: i'm getting this, like, weird sense of déjà vu. like, haven't we been in a fish market in seoul at some point in some previous life? [ laughter ] >> nari: walk down memory lane. what should we toast to this time? >> anthony: to a triumphant
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return to korea. second time around for me. >> nari: cheers to that. gunbae. >> anthony: gunbae. there's something i'm increasingly crazy about. that i've been craving since i got off the plane. banchan. the spicy, pickley, delicious snackies that accompany your meal in korea. >> anthony: ah, i miss this. this is, for me, one of the most exciting things about korean food, actually, is the banchan, yeah. >> nari: banchan? yeah. doesn't that just make you want to drink more soju? >> anthony: is that a hint or something? [ laughter ] >> nari: oh no, no, no, no, no. >> anthony: oh yeah, yeah, right. >> nari: i know, the formality of it all. >> nari: so this is called maeuntang, which literally translates to spicy stew. >> anthony: i need it to burn. >> nari: and it has everything under the sun, seafood-wise. you can find crab. you can find all different kinds of fish. >> anthony: fishermen stews all over the world. >> nari: exactly. this bowl, for me, that's the perfect example of koreans in general. we love being together in a
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space huddled around a bubbling pot of something. >> anthony: what can i tell you? oh, this is good. you are failing in your duties as a younger sister. >> nari: i'm sorry, i'm sorry. gunbae? >> anthony: well you don't have to drink it immediately do you? face plant in that thing. >> nari: koreans, they just want each other to drink as much as possible. peer pressure drinking. >> anthony: right. >> nari: it's kind of a big deal. may i, uh, have another glass please? >> anthony: korean drinking etiquette 101, you never pour your own drink. younger pours for the older and you never drink alone. >> anthony: how come all the korean guys are so tormented? they're all carrying around some unseen weight. >> nari: every single korean person is born with this thing called han. which is a deep sorrow and anger. it has nothing to do with
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upbringing. >> anthony: right. >> nari: i mean literally as your born -- >> anthony: it's genetic. >> nari: yeah, it's genetic. it's in our blood. >> anthony: 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, spite, hatred, and a grim determination to bide your time until revenge can at last be exacted. >> nari: i know, i know. revenge is a very, very sweet tasting thing for koreans, you know? because there's been so much wrong -- >> anthony: right. >> nari: that's happened to us. >> anthony: what about little timmy mcmasters who made fun of you in second grade for bringing kimchi to school. and he, see, he laughed at you and said it smelt like garbage. is there vengeance coming their way? >> nari: my greatest vengeance would be that those people think about that time that they made
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fun of me. i want them to actually love korean food now. >> anthony: that doesn't sound anywhere close to endless suffering. >> nari: well that's my personal story. >> anthony: i was thinking more along the lines of, like, electric nipple clamps and then i drive over them. and not killing them by the way. they slowly bled to death from femoral artery wounds. >> nari: the reason that koreans are able to just not wallow in that, is because of this other emotion called jeong. it is a deep fondness that you have for your other koreans. and people always focus on han and i'm like -- "yeah i know, han, yes, yes, yeah it exists." it exists, no one's denying that. we all have it, but jeong. no one talks about that, and it's equally strong. >> anthony: okay. i believe you. >> nari: i don't think you believe me about this jeong thing. >> anthony: no i believe you. like, i like the whole idea of han. i totally get that as an engine. i like that, i like that dark side. the fact that this word exists is sort of awesome because a negative emotion had been converted into a number of very, very, very positive developments.
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>> nari: absolutely. and koreans are, you know, this amazing group of people that don't curse and eat amazing food and we like to drink and have fun. >> anthony: oh, stop sucking up. so, to the han. >> nari: we need to make a serious dent in this. >> anthony: dong jib. >> nari: you can't say that -- we're unique and we're amazing. >> anthony: that describes me. i'm not drinking this. >> nari: no, you don't have to drink it. [ laughter ] >> anthony: my relentlessly cheerful friend and colleague, nari. she loves korea and all things korean. and wants nothing more than to make everybody love it as much as she does. that's why she brought me here, to the garak fish market. where you find the kind of casual joints i love. i will have, let me see, perhaps, the fish. >> anthony: i want, uh, some banchan. i want some spicy stuff. well, i'll start off by drinking some soju i think.
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>> nari: yes. >> anthony: i'm getting this, like, weird sense of déjà vu. like, haven't we been at a fish market in seoul at some point in some previous life? >> nari: walk down memory lane. advil liqui - gels work so fast you'll ask what bad back? what pulled hammy? advil liqui - gels make pain a distant memory nothing works faster stronger or longer what pain? advil. put under a microscope, we can see all the bacteria that still exists. polident's unique micro clean formula
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♪ ♪ >> anthony: korean culture, as far as i can tell, 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 passed. last time i was here, i was working for some other network. the bacon channel, the competitive eating channel? what was, what was that old show called? it was so long ago. back then i was dragged around in nari kye's, tiny but powerful wake, as i recall. that was nearly a decade ago.
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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 having been on perpetual war footing ever since. it's a psychological and physical scar. korea is literally split in half. but that's not what this show is about. >> anthony: there aren't many comparisons to south korea's stratospheric rise over the last decade. one of the poorest countries as recently as the sixties, 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 supporting the export of intangibles.
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things like music, movies, tv shows, food, the whole korean sensibility. and the world is responding. learning to love what koreans have always loved. the heart of korea is seoul. capital city. a bustling metropolis. futuristic in look and character. population -- twenty-five million. >> anthony: look at them; they've got a selfie stick. everybody's taking pictures of their food. i feel right at home. >> anthony: in october 2014, i went back to korea. this is what i saw. >> anthony: this makes me so happy. good kimchi. make room for the noodles. oh, that's good. it should surprise no one that i'm in a happy place right now. oh yeah. first night back. right to the market, bunch of unrecognizable, but invariably and inevitably delicious, food. good to be back, man. good to be back.
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