Dubbed “food porn” or “gastronomic voyeurism” in Western countries, the trend is known as meokbang, or “broadcast eating,” in Korea. Meokbang is itself a portmanteau, where “meok” stands for “meok-neun,” meaning to eat, whereas “bang” is a shortened form of “bang-song,” or broadcast.

Meokbang is an on-going trend in the local entertainment scene, and Korean viewers often praise actors who can “eat deliciously” on TV. Here is a list of stars who garnered popularity through their mouth-watering meokbang:

Yoon Doo-joon eats yangnyeon chicken -- Korean marinated fried chicken -- in tvN drama "Let's Eat" (tvN)

Yoon Doo-joon eats cold seafood soup in tvN drama "Let's Eat" (tvN)

Yoon Doo-joon eating sashimi or raw fish (tvN)

Beast member Yoon Doo-joon is well-known for eating heartily. Consuming a wide range of food in tvN drama “Let’s Eat” where he plays a food blogger. One scene where Yoon eats fried chicken with beer went viral online and whetted viewers’ appetites.

Lee Jong-suk (left) and Suzy in a fried chicken commercial (BBQ)

Suzy eating Domino's in an ad (Dominos Pizza)

Suzy eats noodles in SBS reality show "Healing Camp" (SBS)

Suzy knows how to eat! Endorsing pizza and fried chicken brands, she contributed to the sales increase of the two companies. She manages to look adorable even while she’s eating. Look at her eating fried chicken, noodles and pizza. Yum!

Park Shin-hye eats appetizing samgyetang soup (Instagram)

Park Shin-hye loves Toriyaki filled with red beans (Instagram)

Park Shin-hye looks ready for lunch (Instagram)

Hallyu star Park Shin-hye also showed off her meokbang through her Instagram updates. Eating “samgyetang,” -- Korean traditional soup with a whole chicken -- the starlet looks lovely.

EXID's Hani eats instant noodles. Yum! (JTBC)

Hani eating seasoned roasted corn (KBS)

Another rising meokbang star is EXID’s Hani. She appeared in various entertainment programs including JTBC’s “Please Take Care of My Refrigerator” and “Off to School,” and ate deliciously. The question arises as to how she manages to stay in shape after eating so much.

Hyeri loves bread and strawberry milk (KBS)

Hyeri eating Korean barbeque in MBC reality show "Real Men" (MBC)

Hyeri eats gamjatang -- Korean soup with pork bones and potatoes. We've also uploaded photos of gamjatang in our Instagram for your reference (SBS)

Girl’s Day member Hyeri, who shot to fame with her cute charms on MBC reality show “Real Men,” is also known for her hearty meokbang which makes viewers hungry. She does not seem to care how she looks on TV, she simply eats everything with her mouth wide open.

By Ko Ji-seon (jiseonko@heraldcorp.com)