'The Legend of Kitchen Soldier' Director Directly Debunks Fake DMs & 'Double Dating' Rumors Involving the Cast

Following groundless "double dating" rumors surrounding the lead actors of the drama 'The Legend of Kitchen Soldier', director Cho Nam-hyung has personally stepped forward to expose a fabricated direct message (DM) conversation.

On June 18, a post titled, "I asked the director of 'The Legend of Kitchen Soldier', and it looks like Park Ji-hoon & Jeon So-young and Lee Sang-yi & Han Dong-hee are actually dating?" quickly spread online. The post was accompanied by a highly sophisticated screenshot of a DM conversation, designed to look as though someone had chatted with Director Cho Nam-hyung by impersonating his social media account.

In the shared screenshot, a netizen asks, "There are rumors that actors Park Ji-hoon and Jeon So-young, as well as actors Lee Sang-yi and Han Dong-hee, are dating. Do you happen to know anything about this?" The impersonator posing as the director replies, "It's difficult for me to say anything specific, but that kind of chemistry doesn't just happen out of nowhere, right?"—leaving a vague, suggestive response as if the rumors were true.

As this DM screenshot circulated, it quickly escalated into "double dating" rumors surrounding the actors. In particular, for Park Ji-hoon and Jeon So-young, who shared an on-screen romance in 'The Legend of Kitchen Soldier', speculation ran rampant among some fans wondering if they had become a real-life couple.

In response to the groundless rumors, Director Cho Nam-hyung personally stepped in to put out the fire. He posted a short and firm message on his social media, stating, "Do not fabricate. I have never sent any DMs," drawing a clear line against the fake DM conversation circulating online.

With the director directly declaring the messages to be false, the DM was exposed as a malicious fabrication. Consequently, the original post that started the rumor was quickly deleted. Since the dating rumors were entirely absurd, the actors and their respective agencies did not release any official statements.

Meanwhile, the Tving original 'The Legend of Kitchen Soldier' is based on the popular web novel and webtoon of the same name. It is a military cooking fantasy drama that follows military kitchen soldier Kang Seong-jae (played by Park Ji-hoon) as he learns to cook as if playing a game, eventually rising to become a "legendary kitchen soldier." Driven by a solid narrative blending comedy, fantasy, and humanism, as well as the actors' strong chemistry, the series successfully concluded on June 16, recording a viewership rating of 7.6% (based on Nielsen Korea's paid platform households) for its final episode amid overwhelming love from viewers.

[Photo = Cho Nam-hyung, Han Dong-hee, Jeon So-young's Instagram, Online Community]

(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Sun-ae)