Chef Choi Gang-Rok Tops Buzz Rankings Amidst Culinary Show Success

Chef Kang-Rok Choi, the winner of 'Black and White Chef: Culinary Class War' Season 2, has claimed the top spot in popularity rankings. Meanwhile, Chef Sung-Geun Lim, who was revealed to have a criminal record, secured the second and fifth positions in popularity, showing a stark contrast in public perception.

According to Good Data Corporation's FUNdex, Kang-Rok Choi topped the TV-OTT non-drama personality popularity rankings for the third week of January. Netizens have been celebrating his victory and supporting his perseverance in pursuing his culinary path.

Sung-Geun Lim, who admitted to three DUI offenses, was actually found to have four. Additionally, he was revealed to have driven his wife's motorcycle without a license during a probation period, resulting in a 37-day detention. Despite the controversy, he also ranked fifth in popularity for his appearance on 'You Quiz on the Block.'

In third place was Hyun-Ji Park from 'Transit Love 4,' followed by Sung-Jae Ahn from 'Black and White Chef 2' in fourth.

The sixth spot was claimed by Ha-Sung Lee (Cooking Monster), the runner-up of 'Black and White Chef 2.' Seventh and eighth places went to Baek-Hyun Sung from 'Transit Love 4' and Poong Kim from 'Please Take Care of My Refrigerator since 2014,' respectively. The ninth position was taken by guest Il-Rit Won-Hee on 'Radio Star,' and the tenth by Hyun-Seok Choi from 'Please Take Care of My Refrigerator since 2014.'

The top TV-OTT non-drama program was Netflix's 'Black and White Chef: Culinary Class War Season 2,' which maintained its number one position for five consecutive weeks. It led in all four components of popularity: news, VON (Voice Of Netizen), video, and social media. Despite a slight drop in average weekly popularity compared to Season 1, Season 2 demonstrated overwhelming popularity, solidifying its status as a premier Korean culinary competition show.

Second place went to Mnet's newly aired 'Show Me the Money 12,' followed by JTBC's 'Please Take Care of My Refrigerator since 2014' in third.

Rounding out the top ten were TVING's 'Transit Love 4,' ENA/SBS Plus's 'I Am SOLO,' TV CHOSUN's 'Miss Trot 4,' tvN's 'You Quiz on the Block,' KBS2's 'Gag Concert,' MBN's 'Current King,' and MBC's 'I Live Alone.'

The rankings for the third week of January, released by Good Data Corporation, included TV non-drama and OTT original non-drama programs that were airing, scheduled, or released between January 12 and January 18, 2026. The survey analyzed news articles, VON, video clips, shorts, and social media reactions to determine the most competitive programs of the week. Non-relevant data and abusive data intended to artificially inflate popularity scores were filtered out, ensuring an accuracy rate of over 97%.

By Ji-Won Kim, TenAsia Reporter bella@tenasia.co.kr