Park Ji-hoon Leads 'The Cook Soldier Becomes a Legend' to Strong Finish After 'The Man Who Lives with the King'

TVING original series 'The Cook Soldier Becomes a Legend' came to an end on June 16, closing out its run with Park Ji-hoon at the center of the drama's momentum.

In the final episode, Kang Seong-jae brought the story to a moving conclusion by completing an emotional journey toward standing on his own. The character was thrown into confusion after the status window that had guided him disappeared, and Park Ji-hoon portrayed that shaken but evolving Kang Seong-jae with layered, assured acting.

Park carefully traced the arc of a character who grows by overcoming crisis and rising again through his own inner strength. What stood out in particular was the way Kang Seong-jae held on to a firm sense of self even when he was pushed into a difficult situation.

Ahead of the one-on-one decisive match in the final round of the division commander's military meal cooking competition, Kang Seong-jae faced a major crisis: the 'chef status window' that had granted him abilities vanished. Standing at what felt like the edge of a cliff, Kang Seong-jae chose to break through head-on by relying on the feel in his own hands and recalling his father's teachings. From that foundation, he planned a home-style meal and completed a dish filled with sincerity.

That sincerity moved the judges. Kang Seong-jae achieved a dramatic victory and prevented the closure of the outpost. Near the end, he received a new quest: 'The beginning of a legend. Become a cook soldier recognized in the officers' dining hall.'

Through this project, Park Ji-hoon revealed a wide range of charms in a setting that moved between fantasy and reality. Starting from the awkwardness of a private second class, his character gradually changed into a skilled cook soldier, and Park's steady performance captured someone climbing each step of that growth with care.

Before appearing in this series, Park had moved audiences nationwide with the film 'The Man Who Lives with the King.' With the success of both that film and this OTT drama, he has now become an actor with two consecutive hits across film and streaming drama.

'The Cook Soldier Becomes a Legend' is a military fantasy about Private Second Class Kang Seong-jae, who carries a kitchen knife instead of a rifle and wears an apron instead of an ammunition belt, as he is reborn as a 'legendary cook soldier.' The final episode recorded a nationwide rating of 7.6 percent, according to Nielsen Korea.