"Of All Times, During President Yoon's Term"…Black-and-White Chef An Yuseong Covered 'Yoon Seokyeol' on Nameplate

Chef Ahn Yuseong, who gained attention by appearing on Netflix's 'Black and White Chef: Culinary Class War,' has become a topic of discussion after it was revealed that President Yoon Suk-yeol's name was covered on Ahn's Master Chef nameplate following the December 3 emergency martial law in South Korea.

The name of President Yoon Suk-yeol is covered with a silver foil cup on the nameplate photo of Master An Yuseong. (Left) Master An Yuseong explaining on a Netflix broadcast. Screenshot from Master An Yuseong online community/Netflix. Photo by An Yuseong

On the 19th, multiple online communities posted an article titled "Black and White Chef Ahn Yuseong Master Chef’s Yoon Suk-yeol Medal and Recent Status After Martial Law." The post shared a review written by a person identified as A, who visited Chef Ahn Yuseong’s restaurant and later posted about it on their blog.

Person A praised the food as delicious and described the scene as "eye-catching," uploading a photo of the 'Master Chef of the Republic of Korea' nameplate displayed in front of the restaurant. In the photo, the nameplate reading 'Master Chef of the Republic of Korea, Culinary Category, Ahn Yuseong' had President Yoon’s three-character name covered with a silver foil cup.

Netizens speculated, noting that the post appeared three days after President Yoon declared martial law, saying, "It seems they covered it after the martial law was declared." In fact, Chef Ahn’s master chef nameplate also appeared in the September broadcast of 'Black and White Chef,' where President Yoon’s name was fully visible. This suggests that Ahn covered the president’s name after the martial law incident.

As the photo of the nameplate gained attention, Chef Ahn’s response in an October interview with KBS about the "most memorable presidents" resurfaced. At that time, Chef Ahn said, "I have served from President Kim Dae-jung to President Roh Moo-hyun, President Moon Jae-in, and the recent president," without mentioning President Yoon’s name.

Netizens who saw the photo reacted with comments such as "I totally understand why the name was covered," "They must have disliked it so much," "I would have done the same," and "It must be a meaningful nameplate, so they must have been really upset to do that."

Master Ahn Yu-seong (above) featured in Netflix's 'Black and White Chef' and his master plaque. President Yoon's name appears as is. Photo by Netflix capture

Born in 1972, Master Chef Ahn Yuseong is a Japanese cuisine expert who runs a restaurant in Gwangju and was selected as a 'Master Chef of the Republic of Korea' last September. The Master Chef title, jointly awarded annually by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Human Resources Development Service of Korea, has been given to 708 individuals across 38 fields including cooking, baking, and crafts since 1986. Among them, 16 are in the culinary field, including Chef Ahn.

Chef Ahn is especially famous for earning the nickname "President’s Sushi Chef" because former Presidents Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun, Moon Jae-in, and President Yoon Suk-yeol visited his restaurant when they came to Gwangju. It is known that former President Kim Dae-jung enjoyed Ahn’s sushi so much that he even took it to the Blue House to eat.