A MODERN
BIOGRAPHY ARCHIVE
THE COLLECTION / FoodARCHIVE № 138
1983 —   CHEF

JUNGJI-SUN

Jul 3, 1983South Korea

What happened at what age?
Where were they at your age?

In 2003, the year she turned 20, she entered the hotel cooking program at Hyejeon College. She paid tuition with money saved from a buffet part-time job. In 2005 she flew to China on the day of her graduation ceremony to study cooking at Yangzhou University.

In 2011 she won a gold medal at an international Chinese-cuisine competition. In 2013 she won a special gold medal at the Korea-China-Japan Qingdao cooking contest. In 2014 her son was born. She says she hid her pregnancy for four months for fear of not getting a job.

In 2015 she appeared on Ganghodaegyeol Junghwa Daebanjeom as chef Lee Yeon-bok’s top disciple. In 2017 she published her first book, Chinaneun Yori. In 2018 she appeared on JTBC’s Please Take Care of My Refrigerator and published the dim sum cookbook The Queen of Dim Sum.

In 2019 she worked as head chef of three Junghwa Bokchun restaurants. In 2020 she opened Tianmimi, a Chinese restaurant under her own name, in Seochon, Seoul. In 2021 she appeared on MBC’s Bolppalgan Sinseonnoreum. In 2023 she joined KBS2’s Boss in the Mirror as a boss, and at the end of the year won the rookie award at the KBS Entertainment Awards.

The breakthrough yearThe year she turned 41, she appeared on Netflix’s Culinary Class Wars as a White Spoon chef. She reached the TOP8, and she says her restaurants’ sales roughly tripled after the show.

In 2025 she opened a pop-up store in New York and lectured at Harvard. At the end of the year she won the popularity award at the KBS Entertainment Awards. In 2026 she opened her first restaurant abroad in Taipei, Taiwan, and appeared on tvN’s Undercover Chef.

Jung Ji-sun (born Jul 3, 1983) began cooking in 2003, the year she turned 20, when she entered the hotel cooking program at Hyejeon College, and became known when Netflix’s Culinary Class Wars, in which she appeared as a White Spoon chef, was released on Sep 17, 2024, the year she turned 41. She opened Tianmimi, a Chinese restaurant under her own name, in 2020, the year she turned 37.

Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.

Full timeline · 32 records2003 — 2026   ＋
AGE / YEAR

  1. 20 · 2003
    Debut

    Enters the hotel cooking program at Hyejeon College

    She went to college on tuition saved from a buffet part-time job. At her first on-site training she worked a month and was paid 50,000 won; the training was supposed to lead to jobs, but only the men got hired, she says.

    Source 01 · Herald Economy (Korean) · Interview · opens in a new tabSource 02 · Segye Ilbo (Korean) · 2018 Junior College Person Award · opens in a new tab The entry year was confirmed by Herald Economy and by Segye Ilbo, which gives her class as ’03. Outlets count the start of her cooking career differently: Maeil Business Newspaper called her an 18-year veteran in 2019, Newsen, writing about KBS’s Boss in the Mirror, a 22-year veteran in 2023, and Star Today a 24-year veteran in 2026. She also says she earned a Korean-cuisine cook’s license as a high school student and worked in a kitchen.
  2. 22 · 2005
    Study abroad

    Studies cooking at Yangzhou University in China

    She flew to China the day of her college graduation ceremony, not knowing Chinese, and began to speak within three months, she says. During her studies she trained under chef Yeo Kyung-ok.

    Source 03 · Newsen (Korean) · Appearance on Radio Star · opens in a new tabSource 01 · Herald Economy (Korean) · Interview · opens in a new tabSource 04 · Maeil Business Newspaper (Korean) · A gourmet couple’s restaurant tour · opens in a new tabSource 37 · Namuwiki (Korean) · Jung Ji-sun (chef) · opens in a new tab The departure year is from Namuwiki (around 2005) and could not be confirmed in news reports. She says her study abroad lasted three years (Woman Sense).
  3. 28 · 2011
    Award

    Gold medal at an international Chinese-cuisine competition

    After returning, she started as the noodle-station cook at the Chinese restaurant of Palace Hotel Gangnam, then took charge of dim sum and desserts at Dowon, the Chinese restaurant at The Plaza hotel in Seoul. That year she won a gold medal at an international Chinese-cuisine competition.

    Source 04 · Maeil Business Newspaper (Korean) · A gourmet couple’s restaurant tour · opens in a new tabSource 19 · Maeil Business Newspaper (Korean) · New York pop-up store and Harvard lecture · opens in a new tabSource 05 · Woman Sense (Korean) · Interview with the queen of the Chinese cleaver · opens in a new tabSource 01 · Herald Economy (Korean) · Interview · opens in a new tab The articles give no year for her return or the hotel jobs, nor the official name of the competition. She says that because she was a woman, restaurants would not even accept her résumé until chef Yeo Kyung-rae recommended her. Herald Economy says it was chef Yeo Kyung-ok who opened the way to a job, which differs.
  4. 30 · 2013
  5. 31 · 2014
    Family

    Son born

    Fearing she would not get a job, she hid her pregnancy until the fourth month and worked in the kitchen until the day before she gave birth, delivering in an emergency, she says. She says she also went back to work from the postnatal care center.

    Source 05 · Woman Sense (Korean) · Interview with the queen of the Chinese cleaver · opens in a new tabSource 03 · Newsen (Korean) · Appearance on Radio Star · opens in a new tabSource 37 · Namuwiki (Korean) · Jung Ji-sun (chef) · opens in a new tab Birth year is from Namuwiki and matches the July 2024 article calling him 11 years old. The date could not be confirmed.
  6. 32 · 2015
    TV

    Appears on SBS Plus’s Ganghodaegyeol Junghwa Daebanjeom

    She entered as chef Lee Yeon-bok’s top disciple. In the disciples’ contest covered in a Nov. 1 article, she made cat-ear noodles and shared the win with Park Eun-young, a disciple of chef Yeo Kyung-rae. Herald Economy calls the show what made viewers notice her.

    Source 13 · SBS Entertainment News (Korean) · Junghwa Daebanjeom disciples’ contest · opens in a new tabSource 01 · Herald Economy (Korean) · Interview · opens in a new tabSource 37 · Namuwiki (Korean) · Jung Ji-sun (chef) · opens in a new tab The articles call the show only Junghwa Daebanjeom (a Chinese-cuisine competition show). The official title and channel are from Namuwiki.
  7. 34 · 2017
  8. 35 · 2018
    TV

    Appears on JTBC’s Please Take Care of My Refrigerator

    Sports Chosun called her the first female professional chef in the show’s history. She said she holds licenses not only in Chinese but in Korean, Western and Japanese cuisine and dim sum, and that she came because she wanted to face the toughest opponent.

    Source 09 · Sports Chosun (Korean) · First appearance on Please Take Care of My Refrigerator · opens in a new tab Namuwiki says another female chef had appeared earlier, which conflicts with the claim of a first.
  9. 35 · 2018
  10. 35 · 2018
  11. 35 · 2018
  12. 36 · 2019
    Position

    Head chef at Junghwa Bokchun

    She ran three restaurants: Junghwa Bokchun and Junghwa Bokchun Gold in Mapo, Seoul, and Junghwa Bokchun PK Market in Gangnam. She also handled hiring, restaurant operations and menu development.

    Source 04 · Maeil Business Newspaper (Korean) · A gourmet couple’s restaurant tour · opens in a new tabSource 02 · Segye Ilbo (Korean) · 2018 Junior College Person Award · opens in a new tab The articles do not say when she became head chef. A December 2018 article gives her the same title.
  13. 37 · 2020
    Key moment

    Opens the Chinese restaurant Tianmimi in Seochon, Seoul

    Her first restaurant under her own name, started with her husband. When she signed the lease in July she thought COVID-19 would ease, she says. She left the jajangmyeon and jjamppong sold at the Chinese restaurants around her off the menu.

    Source 12 · Chosun Ilbo (Korean) · How hard-drinking chefs are coping with COVID-19 · opens in a new tabSource 05 · Woman Sense (Korean) · Interview with the queen of the Chinese cleaver · opens in a new tab
  14. 37 · 2020
  15. 38 · 2021
  16. 40 · 2023
    TV

    Joins KBS2’s Boss in the Mirror as a boss

    She appeared as a new boss in episode 190. Telling how her hand went into a noodle machine and needed 30 stitches, she said she nags more because the kitchen is dangerous.

    Source 14 · Newsen (Korean) · Boss in the Mirror, episode 190 · opens in a new tabSource 15 · Star News (Korean) · Boss in the Mirror previews its new boss · opens in a new tab She says she took two months off then, while a 2019 Maeil Business Newspaper article says the hotel suggested two months of rest but she came back after a month.
  17. 40 · 2023
  18. 41 · 2024
    Contest

    Culinary Class Wars TOP8; final episodes released

    The last two of 12 episodes, 11 and 12, were released this day. She was told it would be embarrassing in front of her staff if an owner-chef went on and lost, but she said she went because she thought showing herself fighting, even if she lost, would set an example.

    Source 06 · SBS Entertainment News (Korean) · Culinary Class Wars TOP8 press conference · opens in a new tabSource 01 · Herald Economy (Korean) · Interview · opens in a new tab Herald Economy calls her the only Chinese-cuisine chef in the top 10, and Namuwiki says she was eliminated in the semifinals and finished seventh. No article giving her ranking was found.
  19. 41 · 2024
  20. 42 · 2025
  21. 42 · 2025
  22. 42 · 2025
  23. 42 · 2025
  24. 43 · 2026
  25. 43 · 2026
  26. 43 · 2026
  27. 43 · 2026
  28. 43 · 2026
    Finale

    Undercover Chef ends

    In the final episode she revealed her real background as a 24-year Chinese-cuisine chef. In the final mission she failed to get a new dish onto the menu, and she said that win or lose she was content just to be given the chance to hold a wok again. The show’s own best rating was 6.2 percent (Nielsen Korea, nationwide).

    Source 27 · Star Today (Korean) · Undercover Chef ends · opens in a new tabSource 39 · TV Report (Korean) · Undercover Chef spin-off confirmed · opens in a new tab TV Report’s September 2026 article gives the final episode’s best rating as 8.6 percent, a different figure from the article at the show’s end.
  29. 43 · 2026
    Opening

    Opens Tianmimi Taiwan in Taipei

    Her first restaurant abroad. Since Culinary Class Wars she has had more offers in Taiwan and now travels back and forth every two weeks, she says. She put jajangmyeon and jjamppong, which the Korean restaurants lack, on the menu. She said she took only 60 percent of reservations but they filled through the end of September.

    Source 28 · JoongAng Ilbo (Korean) · Tianmimi opens in Taiwan · opens in a new tabSource 32 · TenAsia (Korean) · Plan for a first Taiwan restaurant · opens in a new tabSource 31 · Xportsnews (Korean) · Boss in the Mirror after the Taiwan opening · opens in a new tab The articles do not give the opening date. She said on an April broadcast that she would open within the year, and an article at the end of August calls the opening recent, so it is placed in August 2026.
  30. 43 · 2026

END OF SELECTED RECORDSSelected records, 2003–2026 · not a complete list of work. “Key moment” is an editorial label, not a measure of success.

02 / QUICK ANSWERS

Q & AFrequently asked

How old was Jung Ji-sun when she started cooking?
In 2003, the year she turned 20, she entered the hotel cooking program at Hyejeon College. Outlets count her career differently: a 2023 article calls her a 22-year veteran and a 2026 article a 24-year veteran.
How old was Jung Ji-sun when she became famous?
In 2024, the year she turned 41, with Netflix’s Culinary Class Wars. The Fact says she made her name by appearing on the show. Before that she had appeared on Ganghodaegyeol Junghwa Daebanjeom in 2015, Please Take Care of My Refrigerator in 2018 and Boss in the Mirror in 2023.
When did Jung Ji-sun open her restaurant Tianmimi?
On Aug 31, 2020, the year she turned 37, in Seochon, Seoul. In 2026, the year she turned 43, she opened her first restaurant abroad in Taipei, Taiwan.
Where did Jung Ji-sun place on Culinary Class Wars?
She reached the TOP8. Herald Economy calls her the only Chinese-cuisine chef in the top 10, and Namuwiki says she was eliminated in the semifinals and finished seventh. No article giving her ranking was found.
How old is Jung Ji-sun?
Born in 1983, she turns 43 in 2026 (43 as of Sep 22, 2026).
04 / ABOUT THE ARCHIVE

A LIFE,
IN CHAPTERS.

What did they do, and at what age?
AgeTrail lines up the key moments of a life by age.
Debut and breakthrough are marked separately, and every record has a source.

COLLECTION138Jung Ji-sun / JUNG JI-SUN

Food · South Korea
Jul 3, 1983 —

Sources and method39 SOURCES   ＋

Ages are counted from the birth year 1983: the year of the event minus 1983, birthdays aside. “Key moment” labels and the connecting story are AgeTrail's editorial reading.

  1. Herald Economy (Korean) · Interview ↗Aug. 31, 2025. Entered college in 2003 and did her first on-site training; tuition saved from a buffet part-time job; study in China and chef Yeo Kyung-ok; four years in charge of sauces at Nestle; appeared on an SBS cooking show in 2015; the only Chinese-cuisine chef in the top 10 of Culinary Class Wars. It misnames the program Ganghodaegyeong Junghwa Daebanjeom
  2. Segye Ilbo (Korean) · 2018 Junior College Person Award ↗Dec. 14, 2018. Class of ’03 in hotel cooking at Hyejeon College; chosen by the Korea Council for University College Education; then head chef of Junghwa Bokchun, Junghwa Bokchun Gold and Junghwa Bokchun PK Market
  3. Newsen (Korean) · Appearance on Radio Star ↗July 10, 2024. Left for study in China on the day of her college graduation ceremony; three months of Chinese study; an 11-year-old son; an emergency delivery and going back to work from the postnatal care center; 2023 rookie award
  4. Maeil Business Newspaper (Korean) · A gourmet couple’s restaurant tour ↗May 6, 2019. Aged 36, 18 years in the trade; graduate of Hyejeon College and Yangzhou University; dim sum and desserts at the Plaza Hotel’s Dowon; Yangzhou state guesthouse; Nestle Professional Korea representative; head chef of three Junghwa Bokchun restaurants; gold medal at an international Chinese-cuisine competition in 2011; special gold medal at the Korea-China-Japan Qingdao cooking contest in 2013; returned to work a month after getting 30 stitches in her hand
  5. Woman Sense (Korean) · Interview with the queen of the Chinese cleaver ↗Jan. 4, 2025. Got a Korean-cuisine cook’s license and a job as a high school student; three years of study abroad; got a job on chef Yeo Kyung-rae’s recommendation; hid her pregnancy until the fourth month; worked the day before giving birth and from the postnatal care center; after Culinary Class Wars, female staff went from two to six; siraegi basi and the convenience store mission
  6. SBS Entertainment News (Korean) · Culinary Class Wars TOP8 press conference ↗Press conference of Oct. 7, 2024. Released Sept. 17, No. 1 on Netflix’s global TOP 10 TV (non-English) list for two straight weeks, 12 episodes in all, episodes 11 and 12 released Oct. 8, why she decided to appear
  7. Sports Hankook (Korean) · Four White Spoon chefs ↗Oct. 7, 2024. Lists Choi Hyun-seok, Jung Ji-sun, Jang Ho-jun and Edward Lee as White Spoon chefs of Culinary Class Wars
  8. OSEN (Korean) · Culinary Class Wars release date announced ↗Aug. 20, 2024. Released Sept. 17, Chuseok day; a contest of 100 White Spoon and Black Spoon chefs; judges Paik Jong-won and Sung Anh
  9. Sports Chosun (Korean) · First appearance on Please Take Care of My Refrigerator ↗Aired Jan. 15, 2018. Described as the first female professional chef in the program’s history; licenses in Chinese, Korean, Western and Japanese cuisine and dim sum
  10. Cook&Chef (Korean) · Appointed special-appointment professor at Hanhojeon ↗Aug. 31, 2018 article. On Aug. 30 the Korea Hotel Tourism Practical Vocational School appointed her special-appointment professor in its international Chinese cooking course, hotel and food service cooking division
  11. Health Chosun (Korean) · The Queen of Dim Sum published ↗Jan. 30, 2018. 54 Korean-style dim sum recipes, published by Booksgo, 152 pages, five-minute jerky from Please Take Care of My Refrigerator
  12. Chosun Ilbo (Korean) · How hard-drinking chefs are coping with COVID-19 ↗Sept. 5, 2020. Opened Tianmimi on Aug. 31, in Seochon; then 37; signed the lease in July; co-author of Judang Chefdeul-ui Oneul Bam Sul-anju
  13. SBS Entertainment News (Korean) · Junghwa Daebanjeom disciples’ contest ↗Nov. 1, 2015. Jung Ji-sun of the Lee Yeon-bok team shared the win with Park Eun-young of the Yeo Kyung-rae team with cat-ear noodles
  14. Newsen (Korean) · Boss in the Mirror, episode 190 ↗Aired Jan. 15, 2023. Joined as the new boss as a disciple of Lee Yeon-bok and a 22-year Chinese-cuisine chef; she said her hand went into a noodle machine, she got 30 stitches and took two months off
  15. Star News (Korean) · Boss in the Mirror previews its new boss ↗Jan. 14, 2023. On the broadcast of the 15th, Jung Ji-sun appears as the new boss and Kim Tae-gyun as a special MC
  16. Sports Kyunghyang (Korean) · 2023 KBS Entertainment Awards rookie award ↗Dec. 23, 2023. Rookie award in the reality category; her acceptance speech said she had cooked Chinese food for more than 20 years
  17. Hankook Ilbo (Korean) · 2024 KBS Entertainment Awards excellence award ↗Ceremony of Dec. 21, 2024. Excellence award in the reality category for Boss in the Mirror
  18. News1 (Korean) · 2025 KBS Entertainment Awards popularity award ↗Ceremony of Dec. 20, 2025. Popularity award for Boss in the Mirror
  19. Maeil Business Newspaper (Korean) · New York pop-up store and Harvard lecture ↗Broadcast of May 18, 2025. 500 servings sold out in 10 minutes, 2,500 servings in five days; a Harvard lecture; career that began as the noodle-station cook at the Chinese restaurant of Palace Hotel Gangnam
  20. Maeil Business Newspaper (Korean) · 2025 Summer Fancy Food Show ↗June 30, 2025. Held at the Javits Center in New York from June 29 to July 1 local time; Korean snack-bar food
  21. News1 (Korean) · CU launches Gorangtak ↗Sept. 23, 2025. Made with Jung Ji-sun of Tianmimi; launches Sept. 24; 7 percent alcohol
  22. News1 (Korean) · Culinary Class Wars season 2 special judging panel ↗Released Dec. 23, 2025. Eight season 1 contestants join the special judging panel for the black-and-white team battle
  23. Korea Economic TV (Korean) · Pucca pop-up store Dimsum ↗Jan. 21, 2026. Pre-opening Jan. 29, then Jan. 30 to Feb. 1 in Seongsu-dong, Seoul; started from her YouTube channel Kalitsma
  24. Star News (Korean) · First pitch at a Hanwha Eagles home game ↗Apr. 15, 2026, Hanwha Life Ballpark in Daejeon, Hanwha Eagles vs. Samsung Lions; the batter was Jeong Keun-woo
  25. The Fact (Korean) · tvN Yorineun Goerowo! ↗Apr. 24, 2026. First broadcast May 9, with Kim Poong, Lee Mun-jeong, Jo Seo-hyeong and Lee Eun-ji; says she made her name by appearing on Culinary Class Wars
  26. bnt News (Korean) · tvN Undercover Chef first broadcast ↗May 2, 2026. First broadcast May 21; infiltrates a kitchen in Chengdu, China, with a cover story as a former boxer
  27. Star Today (Korean) · Undercover Chef ends ↗Final episode of July 23, 2026. Its own best rating of 6.2 percent (Nielsen Korea, nationwide); revealed as a 24-year Chinese-cuisine chef; failed to get a new dish onto the menu in the final mission
  28. JoongAng Ilbo (Korean) · Tianmimi opens in Taiwan ↗Aug. 29, 2026. She says she recently opened Tianmimi Taiwan in Taipei and put jajangmyeon and jjamppong, which the Korean restaurants lack, on the menu
  29. Newsis (Korean) · Wonju Dumpling Festival ambassador ↗Appointed Aug. 25, 2026. The festival runs Oct. 23 to 25 around the Wonju Stream dawn market, with a live cooking show planned
  30. Star Today (Korean) · Boss in the Mirror, sales tripled ↗Broadcast of Nov. 10, 2024. She says sales roughly tripled after Culinary Class Wars
  31. Xportsnews (Korean) · Boss in the Mirror after the Taiwan opening ↗Broadcast of Aug. 30, 2026. She says she took only 60 percent of reservations but they filled through the end of September, with sales on a par with the Culinary Class Wars period
  32. TenAsia (Korean) · Plan for a first Taiwan restaurant ↗Preview of the Apr. 5, 2026 broadcast. Announces a first Taiwan restaurant this year and ideas for a second in Hong Kong
  33. Sports Donga (Korean) · MBC Bolppalgan Sinseonnoreum ↗Mar. 12, 2021. Appears with chef Ju Bae-an as chef Lee Yeon-bok’s top disciple; dim sum made with Chinese noodles and water chestnuts
  34. Aladin (Korean) · Chinaneun Yori ↗Booksgo, published Aug. 30, 2017. Co-written by Jung Ji-sun and Choi Hyung-jin
  35. Aladin (Korean) · The Queen of Dim Sum ↗Booksgo, published Jan. 30, 2018. A fully revised edition came out Nov. 8, 2024
  36. Aladin (Korean) · Judang Chefdeul-ui Oneul Bam Sul-anju ↗Sujakgeolda, published Sept. 1, 2020. Co-written by Lee Jae-hoon, Im Cheol-ho, Jung Ji-sun and Ahn Jae-hyun
  37. Namuwiki (Korean) · Jung Ji-sun (chef) ↗Basis for her birth date (July 3, 1983), study abroad around 2005, her son’s birth in 2014, the official title of Ganghodaegyeol Junghwa Daebanjeom, and a seventh-place finish on Culinary Class Wars
  38. Wikipedia (Korean) · Jung Ji-sun (chef) ↗Basis for her birth date and career (dim sum and desserts at The Plaza’s Dowon, special-appointment professor at the Korea Hotel Tourism Practical Vocational School)
  39. TV Report (Korean) · Undercover Chef spin-off confirmed ↗Sept. 18, 2026. Gives the final episode’s best rating as 8.6 percent, a different figure from the 6.2 percent in the article at the show’s end

Fact-checked: 2026.09.22 · An independent archive, not affiliated with the person or their agency.