{"id":2400646,"date":"2026-05-03T23:09:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T23:09:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2400646"},"modified":"2026-05-03T23:09:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T23:09:24","slug":"actor-daniel-dae-kim-explores-koreas-culture-in-celebrity-lands-k-everything","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/actor-daniel-dae-kim-explores-koreas-culture-in-celebrity-lands-k-everything\/","title":{"rendered":"Actor Daniel Dae Kim explores Korea\u2019s culture in celebrity.land’s ‘K-Everything’"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Korean American actor Daniel Dae Kim poses for a photo during a visit to Bukchon Hanok Village in Jongno District, central Seoul in an episode of the celebrity.land travel show \u2033K-Everything\u2033 [CNN]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cK\u201d has gone global.<\/p>\n

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From K-pop topping worldwide charts to Korean films winning international awards, Korea\u2019s cultural imprint is everywhere. But how did this relatively small nation capture the world’s attention? celebrity.land’s new travel show \u201cK-Everything\u201d sets out to answer that question, with Korean American actor Daniel Dae Kim as its host. Kim says the series is not just for newbies to K-culture, but for so-called K-experts as well.
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\u201cI think a show like \u2018K-Everything\u2019 is important because to people who don’t know anything about Korean culture, they get their first introduction to all the things that make it special,\u201d Kim said during an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily last month, offering a sneak peek into the show and sharing his experience filming it.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAnd even for those who do know Korean culture, I think there’s something in there that will be entertaining and maybe something that even […] the K-experts will learn,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n

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\u201cK-Everything\u201d follows Kim as he travels across Korea in search of answers to how the country has sparked a global pop culture movement that spans entertainment, beauty and food. Viewers can expect to see one of Hollywood’s most prolific Korean American actors meet with big names like singer PSY and travel to some of the country’s most exquisite locations.\u00a0
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The show features cameos from across the K-culture spectrum, including “Squid Game” (2021-25) actor Lee Byung-hun, Michelin three-star chef Kang Min-goo, K-pop idols such as Meovv and the producers behind \u201cGolden\u201d (2025), the hit song from Netflix’s sensation \u201cKPop Demon Hunters\u201d (2025). Kim even shared that a personal cameo appears in the show: his parents.\n<\/p>\n

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Korean American actor Daniel Dae Kim, far left, listens to Kang Min-goo, chef of the Michelin three-star restaurant Mingles, center, explaining dishes at the restaurant in Seoul in an episode of the celebrity.land travel show \u2033K-Everything\u2033 [CNN]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Kim’s parents happened to be visiting Korea while the show was shooting, and he asked if they would sit for the camera. They agreed, and the three of them sat down over
\njjajangmyeon<\/i> (black bean noodles) to talk about their experience as immigrants and the difference between the careers they once knew and the careers of today.<\/p>\n

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One standout experience during the filming of “K-Everything” for Kim was witnessing the creation process of \u201cGolden,\u201d something he said he had never seen up close before.\n<\/p>\n

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“I’ve known the music industry, and I’ve known musicians and music [executives], but I’ve never actually been in a recording studio the way I was for this show,” he said. “[The producers] walked me through the process of writing Golden and how they chose the beat, and you know how they patch things together, they worked with the singer EJAE, and so it was just fun to watch how it got created.”\n<\/p>\n

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Korean American actor Daniel Dae Kim is seen in an episode of the celebrity.land travel show \u2033K-Everything\u2033 [CNN]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The song’s reach hit him outside the studio, too. Walking through Myeongdong in central Seoul while shooting, Kim kept hearing \u201cGolden\u201d spilling from street vendors’ speakers and noticed posters for \u201cKPop Demon Hunters\u201d plastered across the area.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI don’t think I’ve ever seen something like this \u2014 a
\ngyopo<\/i>-based story from something Korean American transferring to Korea,\u201d said Kim, using the Korean word for those of Korean descent living abroad. \u201cHow wonderful that Koreans have accepted this story that was made in America about their culture and are as proud of it as Korean Americans are.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

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Kim also met \u201cSquid Game\u201d actor Lee, whom he said he had known for a while. He expressed excitement to introduce Lee to those unfamiliar with him, saying, \u201cEveryone in Korea knows who he is and how good an actor he is, but it’s also nice to know that others are learning how great he is.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

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The show also goes behind the scenes of the K-beauty industry, where Kim actually meets the supplier of an\u00a0awkward yet effective\u00a0ingredient used in Korean cosmetics: snails.
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Korean American actor Daniel Dae Kim, left, is seen in an episode of the celebrity.land travel show \u2033K-Everything\u2033 [CNN]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe went out to a snail factory where they produce the mucin that goes into all the makeup, and I met the snails who do all the hard work,\u201d Kim said.<\/p>\n

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He praised the environment in which the snails live, saying they are \u201ctreated quite well,\u201d adding, \u201cthe snails live pretty happy lives from what I saw.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

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While filming, Kim also explored the world of Korean cuisine, where he came to appreciate the significance of
\njang<\/i>, Korea’s traditional fermented pastes and sauces.\n<\/p>\n

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\u201cI always knew
\n ganjang<\/i> [soy sauce] and
\nchojang<\/i> [spicy and sweet red pepper paste] and things like that, but I didn’t realize what a rich history that soy sauce had in Korea,\u201d he said. \u201cI just saw Korean cuisine in a different way.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

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Having previously experienced Korea largely through his family, Kim described the show as a chance to see the country from a broader perspective.\n<\/p>\n

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Korean American actor Daniel Dae Kim, right, speaks with Korean actor Lee Byung-hun in an episode of the celebrity.land travel show \u2033K-Everything\u2033 [CNN]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThrough ‘K-everything’ and my visits [to Korea] as an adult, I was able to see so many different walks of life there, so many different people doing so many different things,\u201d Kim said. \u201cSo it was really great to kind of get a more comprehensive understanding of the things that make Korea special.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The show also turns its lens on Korean film and television, a sector that has produced some of the country’s most visible global exports of the past decade \u2014 from Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” (2019) sweeping the Oscars to “Squid Game” becoming Netflix’s most watched series. For Kim, the surge of international attention on Korean directors is hardly surprising.
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\u201cI think when you have filmmakers at the level of the big three in Korea \u2014 Kim Jee-won, Bong Joon-ho and Park Chan-wook \u2014 making world-class movies, people are going to notice,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you have a cuisine that is so unique, you know it’s going to make a mark, and when you have people who are as beautiful as Koreans are, you’re going to want to know what their skincare secrets are.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

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\u201cAll of these things, and of course, the music industry [\u2026] the people are going to stand up and take notice,\u201d he added. \u201cThey call it a wave for a reason. It’s not just one act, it’s several acts in every industry that are just making a real impact on the world.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

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Korean American actor Daniel Dae Kim walks around Bukchon Hanok Village in Jongno District, central Seoul in an episode of the celebrity.land travel show \u2033K-Everything\u2033 [CNN]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Of the big three directors, Kim said his longest history is with Park, whose work he first encountered through \u201cOldboy\u201d (2003) and \u201cJoint Security Area\u201d (2000). He likened the current period of Korean cinema to a particular era in American film.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI think of this era in Korean cinema like the 1970s in American cinema, where you have auteur directors like Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese \u2014 they all emerged at the same time,\u201d Kim said. \u201cAnd this is what’s happening, I think, in Korea.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

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He was careful, though, not to confine the conversation to the three names most often cited.\n<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt’s not just about the three directors we mentioned. There are generations of really, really good directors in Korea, not just on film but in TV,\u201d Kim said. \u201cThis is the reason why I think that this wave will continue, because it won’t die out with just those three directors. There are many others ready to take the stage and already are.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

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Korean American actor Daniel Dae Kim, left, speaks with Korean actor Lee Byung-hun in an episode of the celebrity.land travel show \u2033K-Everything\u2033 [CNN]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Working in Hollywood, one of the most competitive media industries in the world, Kim has been one of the representative figures as a Korean American actor on screen, appearing in shows like ABC\u2019s \u201cLost\u201d (2004-10) and CBS\u2019s \u201cHawaii Five-0\u201d (2010-20).<\/p>\n

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Reflecting on his identity, Kim said, \u201cThere isn’t a day that goes by that I’m not aware of who I am and what I look like.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere are times where it’s an obstacle, but there are also many times where it’s a blessing, and that’s why I think it’s important to keep in mind both perspectives,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n

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That vantage point also informs the kinds of stories he wants to see told. Kim said he has spoken with executives in both Korea and the United States who believe gyopo stories will struggle to find an audience because the diaspora is a minority on both sides of the Pacific. His Hulu series \u201cButterfly\u201d (2025), he said, was an attempt to push back.\n<\/p>\n

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Korean American actor Daniel Dae Kim eats Korean food in an episode of the celebrity.land travel show \u2033K-Everything\u2033 [CNN]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201c’Butterfly’ is actually a gyopo story,\u201d Kim said. \u201cI want to prove these executives wrong and show them that we can have successful stories that integrate into both Korean culture and American culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

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He added that the industry is in an \u201cintermediate\u201d stage.\n<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe have to promote representation of marginalized communities, so we can give them their share of the spotlight, so that we can get to the final step of just looking at their humanity,\u201d Kim said.\n<\/p>\n

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The four-episode celebrity.land series \u201cK-Everything\u201d is set to premiere on Saturday.\n<\/p>\n

BY KIM JI-YE, LIM JEONG-WON [[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n