Park Ji-hoon Praised for 'Army Cook' Role Despite Never Having Served

Park Ji-hoon, who plays the lead role of Kang Seong-jae in the Tving original series 'Becoming a Legend as an Army Cook' (written by Choi Ryong, directed by Jo Nam-hyeong), is receiving a flood of praise day after day.

Park Ji-hoon is already at the peak of his acting career, having starred in 'The Man Living with the King,' currently ranked second at the domestic box office, and has once again placed himself at the center of attention with 'Becoming a Legend as an Army Cook.' His performance in the series, which dropped on the 11th and 12th of this month, has been a constant topic of conversation. In particular, he has amazed many by brilliantly portraying a soldier despite never having completed his military service — a testament to the fact that he is a born acting genius who began his career as a child actor.

In episode one, Kang Seong-jae prepared sea urchin seaweed soup and served it to Lieutenant Colonel Baek Chun-ik (played by Jeong Woong-in), only for the lieutenant colonel to collapse. As a result, Kang Seong-jae was dragged away by the military police, facing the biggest crisis of his army life. However, it was revealed that this was not due to poison or a cooking mistake, but rather anaphylactic shock caused by Lieutenant Colonel Baek's allergy to perilla powder, bringing a wave of relief. On top of that, Lieutenant Colonel Baek lavished praise on the taste of the seaweed soup, declaring, "I saw heaven."

Kang Seong-jae gathered himself through a conversation with a counselor, reflecting on the teachings of his late father. Although Captain Hwang Seok-ho (played by Lee Sang-i), the company commander, offered to reassign him to a different post, he showed his firm determination to remain as a military cook, hinting at great things to come.

He demonstrated his skills as a military cook by using a status window system to neutralize the stale smell of old rice with vinegar, and by winning over his unit members' taste buds with a spicy bean sprout soup. Sergeant Yun Dong-hyeon (played by Lee Hong-nae) finally opened his heart and began working in sync with Kang Seong-jae upon realizing his genuine dedication.

However, Captain Hwang did not abandon his intention to reassign Kang Seong-jae. In response, Kang Seong-jae carefully fried a tonkatsu to try to persuade Captain Hwang, but ended up failing the quest and faced a new crisis when even the status window system vanished entirely.