Park Ji-hoon Leads 'The Legend of the Cook Soldier' to Top Viewership and Trending Charts

Singer and actor Park Ji-hoon, who proved his true worth in the film 'A Man Living with the King,' has also demonstrated his talent on OTT and home screens.

The TVING and tvN series 'The Legend of the Cook Soldier' (written by Choi Ryong, directed by Cho Nam-hyeong), in which Park Ji-hoon plays the title role, has achieved the number one spot in topicality and number one in TVING subscriber contribution, alongside a rising viewership rating.

According to TVING on the 20th, during the two days following the release of episodes 3 and 4 of 'The Legend of the Cook Soldier,' the series ranked first overall in TVING's paid subscriber contribution.

Furthermore, according to Nielsen Korea, the viewership rating for episode 4 broadcast on the 19th averaged 7.9% nationwide and peaked at 9.1%, while averaging 8.3% and peaking at 9.9% in the Seoul metropolitan area. Breaking its own highest records every episode, it ranked number one in its time slot across all channels, including terrestrial networks. The tvN target demographic of men and women aged 20-49 also ranked number one in its time slot across all channels, including terrestrial networks (based on paid platforms including cable, IPTV, and satellite).

In the TV-OTT integrated drama actor topicality category for the second week of May (May 11–May 17) released by Good Data Corporation's FUNdex, Park Ji-hoon (playing Kang Seong-jae) ranked first, and 'The Legend of the Cook Soldier' took first place in the OTT original topicality category.

This serves as proof of the work's inherent competitiveness and Park Ji-hoon's 'ticket power.'

In the previous episode 4, cook Kang Seong-jae successfully captured the palates of National Assembly members and officials, leading to the possibility of being drafted to the officers' cafeteria, and subsequently received an interview request from Kukgun TV, emerging as the top star of the outpost.

As Kang Seong-jae headed to the interview location guided by an outpost member, he froze when a reporter greeted him with a warm hug upon seeing him. The reporter is Min-ah (played by Jeon So-young), Kang Seong-jae's female friend. Min-ah is a character who has had a crush on Kang Seong-jae for a long time, and as they share an affectionate hug, expectations are rising regarding whether a romance will unfold between the two.