South Korea’s new obsession with speed, strength and stamina

South Korean variety shows pushing the human body to its breaking point are dominating screens, and viewers cannot seem to look away.

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Netflix’s Physical: Asia (2025) went straight to the streaming platform’s top 10 series in South Korea and was on Netflix’s global top 10 list for all three weeks of its run, which began on Oct 28.

Building on the momentum of the hit franchise Physical, which launched in 2023, the latest instalment assembled athletes and superstar sports personalities from eight countries - including legendary Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao - for a series of missions testing speed, strength and stamina.

Challenges included some three-hour rope-hangs, endless heavy-pole pushes and hauling massive metal spheres - all of which helped the show become one of Netflix Korea’s standout unscripted entries in 2025.

Riding that wave, tvN has rolled out its own contender with I Am Boxer, fronted by Korean American actor Don Lee, the action star behind The Outlaws crime action film franchise (2017 to 2024), and a professional boxing coach.