As mentioned in the video lecture, food and eating is an embodiment of a specific culture and lifestyle. In Korea, a new type of eating culture has emerged and became a huge part of youth culture. It is called Meokbang.
Meokbang is a combination of two words, Meokda and Bangsong which stands for eating and broadcasting respectively. Korean people used to form a large family where three generations, from grandparent to grandchild, lived together in a single house. Eating was a very important part of family culture as it was the only time when three generations could come together and participate in a common activity. However, as urbanization accelerated, more people gathered around a city, resulting in very extreme population density. In a crowded city, getting a house that is big enough to hold three generations was very expensive and more the typical size of a family changed accordingly.
Now that small families and single-person households consist of the majority of population, the eating culture has also changed. After coming back from work, people were left alone in their houses and felt lonely eating by themselves. That is when internet streamers started eating on live broadcast. While broadcasting themselves eating, live streamers make conversation with the viewers through live chatting and interacts with them as if they are eating together.
As a youth, I am also very familiar with the concept of Meokbang and have viewed meokbang a lot of times. However, I have never thought of it as a kind of a cultural change. Now that I think about it, it very well represents Korean urban and youth culture: aloneness and internet.