Male Celebrity Beats LE SSERAFIM And Aespa In Popularity Among Soldiers

While LE SSERAFIM and aespa might be some of the hottest girl groups in K-Pop right now, for active-duty soldiers, a male celebrity seems to surpass them in popularity, particularly for going out for brunch.

aespa | @aespa_official/Instagram LE SSERAFIM | @le_sserafim/Instagram

From March 12 to March 17, the official Korean military app, The Camp, conducted a survey titled “Stars You Want To Have Brunch With.” A total of 459 active-duty soldiers participated in it, and the result was announced on March 29, KST.

Picture of Korean soldiers during a meal, used for illustrative purposes only | Wikitree

All of the top spots were taken by popular girl groups, with NewJeans and Fromis_9 at number four (5% of votes), aespa at number three (8%) votes, and LE SSERAFIM at number two (10% votes).

NewJeans | @newjeans_official/Instagram Fromis_9 | @officialfromis_9/Instagram

The top spot, however, surprisingly went to the celebrity chef Paik Jong Won. A whopping 15% of the total participants said that he would be their first choice to go on a brunch with! The respondents who chose Paik as their first pick reasoned that he would probably make them the most delicious brunch and also would be a great person to seek career advice from.

Paik Jong Won | Wikitree

Paik Jong Won, one of the most popular chefs in South Korea, a successful restauranteur, and also a TV personality who is often seen on screen with K-Entertainment bigwigs like BTS. Read more about their friendship here.