regret, bitterness, spite, hatred, and a grim determination to bide your time until revenge can at last be exacted. nari: i know, i know. revenge is a very, very sweet tasting thing for koreans, you know? because there s been so much wrong anthony: right. nari: that s happened to us. anthony: what about little timmy mcmasters who made fun of you in second grade for bringing kimchi to school. and he, see, he laughed at you and said it smelt like garbage. is there vengeance coming their way? nari: my greatest vengeance would be that those people think about that time that they made fun of me. i want them to actually love korean food now. anthony: that doesn t sound anywhere close to endless suffering. nari: well that s my personal story. anthony: i was thinking more along the lines of, like, electric nipple clamps and then i drive over them. and not killing them by the way. they slowly bled to death from femoral artery wounds. nari: the reason that koreans
i ve changed. i m guessing nari s changed. and korea? korea has certainly changed. the korean war ended more than half a century ago. but in some ways, it s still going. the north and south having been on perpetual war footing ever since. it s a psychological and physical scar. korea is literally split in half. but that s not what this show is about. anthony: there aren t many comparisons to south korea s stratospheric rise over the last decade. one of the poorest countries as recently as the sixties, today it claims one of the world s fastest growing economies. the government has been extremely shrewd and forward thinking about selling the world all things korean. underwriting, encouraging, financing and supporting the export of intangibles. things like music, movies, tv shows, food, the whole korean
far as i can tell, is defined by the drive to succeed. a churning engine fueled by decades of han. a remarkable ability and remarkable willingness to anticipate the future. it reaches back across time. binding millennials and generations long since pasd. last time i was here, i was working for some other network. the bacon channel, the competitive eating channel? what was, what was that old show called? it was so long ago. back then i was dragged around in nari kye s, tiny but powerful wake, as i recall. that was nearly a decade ago. things have changed since then. i ve changed. i m guessing nari s changed. and korea? korea has certainly changed. the korean war ended more than half a century ago. but in some ways, it s still going.
anthony: i m getting this, like, weird sense of déjà vu. like, haven t we been in a fish market in seoul at some point in some previous life? [ laughter ] nari: walk down memory lane. what should we toast to this time? anthony: to a triumphant return to korea. second time around for me. nari: cheers to that. gunbae. anthony: gunbae. there s sog i m increasingly crazy about. that i ve been cving since got off the plane. banchan. the spicy, pickley, delicious snackies that accompany your meal in korea. anthony: ah, i miss this. this is, for me, one of the most exciting things about korean food, actually, is the banchan, yeah. nari: banchan? yeah. doesn t that just make you want to drink more soju? anthony: is that a hint or something? [ laughter ] nari: oh no, no, no, no, no. anthony: oh yeah, yeah, right. nari: i know, the formality of it all. anthony: and appetizers? yes, i remember these guys. anthony: oh, our old friend. again.
please? anthony: korean drinking etiquette 101, you never pour your own drink. younger pours for the older and you never drink alone. anthony: how come all the korean guys are so tormented? they re all carrying around some unseen weight. nari: every single korean person is born with this thing called han. which is a deep sorrow and anger. it has nothing to do with upbringing. anthony: right. nari: i mean literally as your born anthony: it s genetic. nari: yeah, it s genetic. it s in our blood. anthony: han, my favorite korean word. it has many implied and specific meanings but, generally speaking, it s a mixture of endurance, yearning, sorrow, regret, bitterness, spite, hatred, and a grim determination to bide your time until revenge can at last be exacted. nari: i know, i know. revenge is a very, very sweet tasting thing for koreans, you know?