Baek Jong-won Returns to Broadcasting After 6 Months, MBC 'Chef of Antarctica' Premieres Today

Baek Jong-won, the CEO of The Born Korea, returns to broadcasting six months after announcing a halt to his broadcasting activities last May.

MBC officially announced that the variety show featuring CEO Baek Jong-won, 〈Climate Environment Project - Chef of Antarctica〉, will premiere on the 17th at 10:50 PM.

This program is co-planned by MBC and LG Uplus's 'Studio X+U', featuring CEO Baek Jong-won along with actors Lim Soo-hyang, Chae Jong-hyeop, and Suho from the group EXO. They will embark on a journey to serve warm meals to the members of the Antarctic research station working in extreme conditions.

Originally, the program was scheduled to air in April, but its broadcast was delayed. At that time, MBC stated that the scheduling adjustment was due to the early presidential election situation, but some in the industry speculated that the ongoing controversies surrounding The Born Korea may have influenced this decision.

Since the beginning of this year, The Born Korea has been embroiled in various controversies, including the 'Baek Ham' quality issue, allegations of violating agricultural land laws, errors in the origin labeling of its products, operating a blacklist board for employees in the Saemaul Restaurant online community, and issues with pesticide sprayers.

In response, CEO Baek Jong-won officially apologized at the first regular shareholders' meeting held in March, and in May, he personally announced a halt to his broadcasting activities.