Go rural, get ratings: Korea's latest obsession with watching celebrities try countryside life

The "choncance" trend, focusing on rural life, has gained popularity on Korean TV, with shows like "I Live Alone" featuring episodes with guests heading to the countryside to try various challenges.

TV personality Jeon Hyun-moo, left, and comedian Park Na-rae during a recent episode of the reality TV show “I Live Alone” on MBC. The two went on a day trip to the countryside and spent a day living like locals. [MBC]

The reality TV show “Fresh Off the Sea” on tvN shows how celebrities go about each day in a small fishing village. [TVN]

TV personality Jeon Hyun-moo and comedian Park Na-rae recently got away from the hustle and bustle of city life and spent a day in Chungju, North Chungcheong, as part of the reality TV show “I Live Alone.” Clad in T-shirts with flashy flower patterns and mompei pants, which are often considered a thing for grandmas living in the countryside, the two celebrities harvested some crops by themselves, grilled pork belly and beat the heat by pouring cold tap water over each other’s backs, spending the day like locals. The viewer ratings for the episode featuring Jeon and Park’s "choncance" reached 9.6 percent at one point. Choncance is a newly coined term that combines chon, meaning a rural area in Korean, and vacance, a French word meaning vacation.

The episode helped the reality TV show win back the much-coveted No. 1 spot, in a poll on favorite TV shows by Gallup Korea.

“Park knows the trend. She suggested this episode. As I filmed it, I came to know that choncance is something young folks are into these days,” said the show's director Heo Hang during a phone interview with the JoongAng Ilbo, an affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily.

Catching up with the trend, several TV shows were recently launched with the theme of choncance.

“Crash Landing of Stranger” on MBC has cast Korean American celebrities, such as Park Joon-hyung, a member of the K-pop boy band g.o.d., Brian, a former member of the male K-pop duo Fly to the Sky, and Johnny from boy band NCT. The show depicts their struggles in adapting to rural life.

“Fresh Off the Sea” on tvN is a reality TV show filmed against the backdrop of a small fishing village. Actresses, including Yum Jung-ah and Ahn Eun-jin, cook their meals using fresh ingredients sourced from the sea.

Jun. K, Nichkhun, and Wooyoung, from far left, members of the boy band 2PM, went on a trip to Hongcheon, Gangwon Province, and their journey was uploaded onto their official YouTube channel. [JYP]

In another TV show, “Earth Arcade’s Vroom Vroom” on tvN, young female cast members in their early 20s, including An Yu-jin from girl group IVE and rapper Lee Young-ji, went on a trip to a hanok, traditional Korean house, in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi. They lay down on the wooden floor of the hanok and took some downtime and recharged themselves.

An Yu-jin from the girl group IVE, left, and rapper Lee Young-ji take a break at a hanok, a traditional Korean house, in the reality TV show “Earth Arcade’s Vroom Vroom” on tvN. [TVN]

Jin, a member of the boy band BTS, has chosen to appear on “Half-Star Hotel in Lost Island” on MBC as his first public appearance since being discharged from mandatory military service. In the show, a deserted house is renovated into a hotel on a remote island. Jin will be a guest, while other celebrities serve as staff members. A specific airdate has not been decided yet.

Singer Lim Young-woong confirmed that he would appear in some episodes of the popular reality TV show “Three Meals a Day” on tvN. The show’s main concept is similar to “Fresh Off the Sea.”

Video clips following the theme of choncance are prevalent on YouTube. On girl group aespa's official channel, fans can see the members making a fire, grilling pork belly and competing with each other to see who can throw rubber shoes the farthest.

Singer Lim Young-woong will appear in the upcoming reality TV show “Three Meals a Day.” [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Rubber shoes have become obsolete but they used to be common footwear in the 1950s and 60s. The clip reveals a starkly different side of the four-member girl group, which is usually known for appearing on stage with charismatic performances.

Jun. K, Nichkhun and Wooyoung, members of the boy band 2PM, recently hit the road to Hongcheon in Gangwon and uploaded their trip to the group’s official YouTube channel. The singers were surprised by the lack of streetlights and convenience stores near their destination.

On Instagram alone, about 1 million photos are uploaded with the choncance hashtag. In these photos, people wear comfortable mompei pants and sip makgeolli (rice wine). Women living in rural areas usually wear the stretchy and easy-to-wash mompei pants when working in fields and paddies. Some enjoy the view of rice paddies to clear their mind.

“This choncance trend is in line with halmaennial trend,” said Professor Lee Eun-hee, a consumer studies professor at Inha University. Halmaennial is a portmanteau of the word halmae, an endearing way of addressing a grandmother in Korean, and the word millennial. Thanks to the halmaennial trend, old-fashioned snacks such as yakgwa (fried honey cookies) and yanggaeng (a gelatinous red bean paste snack) have become popular recently among young people, unlike in the past.

“The young generation may find rural areas somewhat different and unique. They're places where they can chill out and take many good photos,” Lee added.

Culture critic Jeong Duk-hyeon said, “There used to be reality TV shows filmed in rural areas, such as ‘2 Days & 1 Night’ and ‘Family Outing,’ but there is a difference between the past and today’s TV shows on the theme of choncance. These days, such TV shows do not ask cast members to complete certain tasks. Instead, the cast hang out and have some fun.

“Viewers find it therapeutic to watch the celebrities goofing around in such circumstances,” he continued.

“Amid soaring prices and exchange rates, filming TV shows in farming and fishing villages could be an alternative to cut down on expenses,” Jeong added.

BY HWANG JEE-YOUNG [kjdculture@joongang.co.kr]