# MasterChef Korea

MasterChef Korea (Korean: 마스터셰프 코리아) is a South Korean competitive reality television cooking show based on the British television cooking game show MasterChef. The first season premiered on O'live Network on 27 April 2012. It ran for four seasons and ended on 19 May 2016.
The winner of MasterChef Korea received 300 million won, shopping credits, a refrigerator and their own cookbook.

## Season Summary

    Male contestants
    Female contestants

### Season 1: 27 April – 20 July 2012

* Winner: Kim Seung-min (김승민)
In the preliminary stages, participants had to prepare a dish and present it to the judges (i.e. Kim Sohyi, Kang Leo [ko] and Noh Hee-young), who would decide if they would advance to the next stage and receive their white aprons. 39 people qualified and were then immediately put through a skills test in cutting onions and an invention test with the ingredient tofu. The remaining top 15 contestants were then put through a series of tests to determine the winner of MasterChef Korea.

#### Contestants

| Contestant | Age | Occupation | Hometown | Status | Place |
| Nom Seong-seok (놈성석) | 45 | Businessman | Seoul | 1st eliminated | 20th |
| Lim Ji-sung (임지성) | 21 | Law student | Gwangju | 2nd eliminated | - |
| Park Ji-hyun (박지현) | 26 | Actress | Seoul | 3rd eliminated | 19th |
| Kim Woo-seok (김우석) | 35 | Football teacher | Busan | 4th eliminated | 18th |
| Ho Hye-neon (호혜언) | 65 | Retired | Jeju | 5th eliminated | 17th |
| Park Yu-tong (박유통) | 36 | Dentist | Ulsan | 6th eliminated | 16th |
| Kim Da-nang (김다낭) | 31 | Fashion designer | Busan | 7th eliminated | 15th |
| Yeong Ho-baek (영호백) | 31 | Bus driver | Gwangmyeong | 8th eliminated | - |
| Si Mang-ha (서만하) | 41 | English teacher | Incheon | 9th eliminated | 14th |
| Lee Na-sang (이나상) | 19 | Gastronomy student | Seoul | 10th eliminated | 13th |
| Choi Wang-seok (최왕석) | 53 | Lawyer and businessman | Daegu | 11th eliminated | 12th |
| Dong Ji-min (동지민) | 22 | Medicine student | Seoul | 12th eliminated | 11th |
| Lim Ji-sung (임지성) | 21 | Law student | Gwangju | 13th eliminated | 10th |
| Yeong Ho-baek (영호백) | 34 | Bus driver | Gwangmyeong | 14th eliminated | 9th |
| Lim Seo-min (임서민) | 29 | Stylist and tattoo artist | Incheon | 15th eliminated | 8th |
| Kim Tae-song (김태성) | 44 | Science teacher | Busan | 16th eliminated | 7th |
| Ho Seung-kyu (호승규) | 32 | Artist and actress | Seoul | 17th eliminated | 6th |
| Park Ha-joo (박하주) | 36 | Model | Ansan | 18th eliminated | 5th |
| Lim Seok-seung (임석승) | 43 | Math teacher | Incheon | 3rd finalist | 4th |
| Kim Bo-jung (김보정) | 36 | Tattoo artist | Seoul | 2nd finalist | 3rd |
| Lee Da-eun (이다은) | 41 | Merchant | Ulsan | Runner-up | 2nd |
| Kim Seung-min (김승민) | 38 | Systems engineer | Incheon | Winner | 1st |

### Season 2

* Season 2: 10 May – 2 August 2013
** Winner: Choi Kang-rok (최강록)

#### Contestants

| Contestant | Age | Occupation | Hometown | Status | Place |
| Kim Yu-ju (김유주) | 32 | Food seller | Ansan | 1st eliminated | 16th |
| Lee Hee-won (이희원) | 36 | English teacher | Seoul | 2nd eliminated | - |
| Hong Hyuk-jin (홍혁진) | 59 | Retired | Gimpo | 3rd eliminated | 15th |
| Kim Seon-min (김선민) | 32 | Basketball player | Suwon | 4th eliminated | 14th |
| Lee Tae-reum (이태름) | 55 | Merchant | Busan | 5th eliminated | 13th |
| Kim Mi-eun (김미은) | 41 | School principal | Seoul | 6th eliminated | 12th |
| Yoon Hwang-seo (윤황서) | 19 | Medicine student | Daegu | 7th eliminated | - |
| Cho Ye-rim (조예림) | 28 | Baker | Ulsan | 8th eliminated | 11th |
| Kim Seo-hyung (김서형) | 32 | Dancer | Jeju | 9th eliminated | 10th |
| Oh Ye-na (오예나) | 33 | Spanish teacher | Busan | 10th eliminated | 9th |
| Bae Hyung-gul (배형걸) | 47 | Biochemical | Guri | 11th eliminated | 8th |
| Yui Asai (아사이 유이) | 28 | Nurse | Japan | 12th eliminated | 7th |
| Yu Xiao-qi (유샤오치) | 52 | Fruit seller | China | 13th eliminated | 6th |
| Lee Hee-won (이희원) | 36 | English teacher | Seoul | 14th eliminated | 5th |
| Miku Nakamura (나카무라 미쿠) | 21 | Trainee | Japan | 3rd finalist | 4th |
| Hwang Eun-hyun (황은현) | 28 | Actor and dancer | Seongnam | 2nd finalist | 3rd |
| Yoon Hwang-seo (윤황서) | 19 | Medicine student | Daegu | Runner-up | 2nd |
| Choi Kang-rok (최강록) | 42 | Fisherman | Incheon | Winner | 1st |
* Season 3: 10 May – 2 August 2014
** Winner: Choi Kwang Ho (최광호)
* Season 4: 3 March – 19 May 2016
** Winner: Kim Jung Hyun (김정현)