Park Jin-hai primarily focuses on K-dramas, entertainment shows and actor interviews. Beyond that, she also pens articles covering the broader arts scene, with a particular emphasis on classical music, dance and various aspects of lifestyle. Since joining The Korea Times in 2013, she has made significant contributions in the realms of hallyu (Korean wave), industry news and international affairs.
China suspected of copying Korean Netflix hit ‘Culinary Class Wars'
A scene from China's cooking competition, "Chef of China" / Captured from Tencent Video
By Park Jin-hai
Lack of clear criteria on format plagiarism makes copyright protection difficult
Controversy is brewing as Tencent Video's new cooking survival show, "Chef of China," is accused of copying the popular Korean Netflix show, "Culinary Class Wars."
The claim extends beyond surface-level resemblance in concept or idea. Viewers point out the Chinese program is "nearly identical" to its Korean counterpart in key aspects, including its major concept, set design, the hierarchical casting structure of the competition and even specific production details.
"Chef of China," which premiered on July 17, features 16 celebrity chefs alongside 84 aspiring culinary talents, just like "Culinary Class Wars." It even has a structure where a few star chefs compete against a larger number of rookie chefs. These contestants use nicknames instead of real names, and the stage arrangement, with famous chefs observing from a higher vantage point, is almost identical to the Korean program.
"Culinary Class Wars" features Korean restaurateur Paik Jong-won and three-star Michelin chef Anh Sung-jae as judges, and prominent chefs such as Choi Hyun-seok and Lu Ching Lai as competitors. Upon its release in 2024, it became one of the most successful Korean variety shows on the global streaming platform, topping Netflix's non-English TV category for three consecutive weeks.
The show is preparing to release its second season in the latter half of this year.
Scenes from China's cooking competition "Chef of China" / Captured from Tencent Video
Screenshots and clips from "Chef of China" are drawing backlash online, with Korean viewers leaving comments such as "I was shocked because the way of introducing contestants, competition format and even the details of the contest were exactly the same," and "Copying an entire program is just absurd."
Many Chinese viewers openly criticized the show as well on Weibo, calling it “shameless imitation” and saying, “The shooting techniques, competition system and even the background music are the same.”
Regarding this concern, Netflix said, "We haven't sold the copyright or format of 'Culinary Class Wars' to any Chinese company," adding that they are "currently discussing internally how to respond to this."
China's repeated format plagiarism issues
This is not the first time China has been accused of copying Korean variety show formats. According to the Korea Creative Content Agency's report titled “Cases of Domestic and Overseas Program Format Rights Infringement,” 18 Korean variety shows were plagiarized or illegally copied 20 times over a five-year span starting in 2016. Nineteen out of those 20 cases occurred in China.
According to the report, China created unauthorized remakes of several popular Korean shows, including "Youn's Kitchen," "Fantastic Duo," "My Little Old Boy," "Law of the Jungle" and "I Can See Your Voice."
The Format Recognition and Protection Association, a global organization dedicated to safeguarding entertainment formats, judged China's "Idol Producer" to be 88 percent plagiarized from Korea's "Produce 101."
A promotional poster for China's idol competition reality show "Idol Producer" on iQIYI / Captured from iQIYI
Despite repeated infringement of Korean show formats, legal recourse against Chinese adaptations is extremely challenging and limited in practice.
Lee Seung-ki, an attorney at Lee & Law Partners, noted that copyright law primarily protects "expressed creations," not abstract ideas or formats, according to the Berne Convention of the World Intellectual Property Organization.
Uphill battle against piracy
Unlike specific scripts or video recordings, Lee says a show's core concept alone, such as "a reality show where famous and unknown chefs compete solely through cooking," is hard to protect.
"In this specific case, where a Chinese show copied everything from the set to the composition, there might be arguments that the broadcast format was plagiarized. However, the lack of clear international standards or treaties for format protection and the absence of established plagiarism criteria make proving infringement exceptionally difficult," he said.
Furthermore, seeking justice in Chinese courts is often futile, as Chinese legal enforcement and rulings frequently favor domestic entities.
"If Chinese producers claim independent creation, the burden of proof falls on the Korean side, incurring immense time and cost for litigation. Chinese courts tend to rule in favor of their own companies, leading to ineffective outcomes. Even if successful, damages are often minimal and enforcement of judgments can be poor," he said, stressing the need for the Berne convention to recognize copyright for broadcast formats and establish concrete plagiarism criteria.
The same is true for global streaming platforms like Netflix when infringements occur in China and disputes must be resolved under Chinese law.
In addition, there are considerable diplomatic and political pressures as well.
"China is highly sensitive about protecting its domestic content and imposes strict regulations on foreign platforms," Lee said. "Pushing for legal action could jeopardize Netflix's other business opportunities in China. Given that Netflix is currently unavailable in mainland China, the company would likely want to avoid any conflict that could hinder its future entry into the world's largest market."