Culinary Class Wars 2 set for a second-half release amidst Baek Jong-won's controversy

On April 28, 2025, YTN reported that Netflix's Culinary Class Wars season 2 is filming and is aimed at release in the second half of the year, despite the controversy surrounding Baek Jong-won.

Baek Jong-won, also spelt Paik Jong-won is a star of the Culinary Class Wars. He is surrounded by controversy over workplace power abuse and food regulation violations.

There were rumors that Culinary Class Wars season 2 is set to premiere on Netflix in October, with filming having begun in early March. Baek Jong-won and Chef Ahn Sung-jae are returning as judges on the show.

However, as per Chosun Biz, Netflix clarified that the show will be released in the second half of the year, but the release date has not been set yet.

For those unversed, Baek Jong-won is a renowned South Korean chef and entrepreneur. He is known for hosting popular cooking shows like Top 3 Chef King, Alley Restaurant, and judging Netflix's Culinary Class Wars.

Culinary Class Wars is a cooking competition that premiered on Netflix in 2024. The show featured 100 top chefs who were divided into white spoons (experienced chefs) and black spoons (newcomers). The chefs fight for the prize of 300 million Won.

The show topped Netflix's charts as the most-watched foreign language series in its debut week and garnered about 3.8 million views, as reported by Korea JoongAng Daily on September 25, 2024.

---

More about Baek Jong-won's recent controversy involves allegations of power abuse and food code violations

Baek Jong-won has recently been reported to authorities for allegedly breaching the country of origin labelling law. The issue is specifically about a soybean paste by Theborn Korea called Paik-seok doenjang. Theborn Korea is a South Korean food and beverage franchise business founded by Baek Jong-won.

The product in question is marketed as domestically produced despite using imported ingredients, as reported by The Korean Herald.

Theborn Korea faces allegations of violating the Farmland Act by producing Paik-seok doenjang in an agricultural promotion zone, where it is prohibited to produce products with foreign raw materials.

He is also facing backlash for multiple other issues, including low pork content in his Paik ham and insufficient tangerine content in a tangerine beer. The entrepreneur also faced scrutiny for violating safety regulations when an indoor liquefied petroleum gas cylinder was used in the space where chicken was cooked.

This could result in fines of up to 40 million won under the Safety Control and Business of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Act. Moreover, a former MBC producer has accused him of power abuse during his time on My Little Television by making unreasonable demands, as reported by the same publication.

In a YouTube video, the producer Kim Jae-hwan accused Baek and stated that he often made unreasonable demands on the broadcasting company and insisted that only his designated writers and filming teams be included in the show. He further stated, as reported by the Korean Herald,

"This undermines the chemistry between the producer and the filming team, which is essential to the atmosphere of the show. If the filming team is only trying to please Paik, the on-set authority naturally shifts to him."

Kim Jae-hwan alleged that Baek influenced and pushed out cast members whom he disliked. However, a director who had previously worked with the Cooking Class Wars' host refuted the claims and said that they experienced no misconduct during their collaboration.

---

In other news, MBC delayed the airing of Baek Jong-won's new show, Chef of Antarctica, due to special news broadcasts and the upcoming presidential elections.