Welcome, First Time in Korea?

Welcome, First Time in Korea? () is a South Korean television show that airs on MBC every1. The show is in a reality television-travel show format and first aired on June 1, 2017. Each trip features a foreigner living in South Korea who invites three friends from their home country to travel to South Korea for the first time. The trips typically follow the format of the three friends traveling on their own for the first two days, followed by a two-day special tour organized by the hosting foreigner. Episodes also include concurrent commentary from a panel of hosts, together with the guest whose friends are featured.

In April 2020, the show changed to a "Living in Korea" special format due to travel restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, they promised to return to the original concept once the world is able to comfortably travel abroad again. The revised format is similar to I Live Alone and My Neighbour, Charles, introducing the daily life and experiences of foreigners residing in Korea.

In July 2022, the show was rebooted to its original format as travel restrictions eased, allowing foreigners to easily visit South Korea again.

Hosts Main Hosts (Season 2 - Reboot)Kim Jun-hyunJune 1, 2017 – July 1, 2021July 7, 2022 – October 9, 2025July 7, 2022 – October 9, 2025Alberto MondiJune 1, 2017 – October 9, 2025

Former HostsShin A-youngJune 1, 2017 – October 22, 2020 DinDinJune 1, 2017 – July 1, 2021October 29, 2020 – July 1, 2021 July 8, 2021 – June 30, 2022Jang Do-yeonSeptember 2, 2021 – June 30, 2022

Special hosts Mina Fujii (September 28 – October 12, 2017) Christian Burgos (July 5–26, 2018 / April 13–20, 2023) (September 27 – October 18, 2018) Byul (April 11 – May 2, 2019) Sujan Shakya (September 5–26, 2019) Daniel Lindemann (July 7 – August 4, 2022 / March 2–23, 2023) Sam Hammington (August 24 – September 7, 2023) "Lucky" Abhishek Gupta (August 22–29, 2024) Dustin Nippert (July 24 - August 14, 2025)

"Vilppu's Diner" Special (July 8 – August 26, 2021) (July 8 – August 26, 2021) Leo Ranta (August 5–19, 2021)

"Talking Show" Special Joy Albright (September 19, 2024)

List of episodes Pilot (June 1–15, 2017) Episode Broadcast date Guest Friends Guest and friends' nationality 1 June 1, 2017 Alberto Mondi Luca Bertho, Federico Minto, Francesco Pietro Bonn Italy 2 June 8, 2017 3 June 15, 2017

Season 1 (July 27, 2017 – March 8, 2018) Episode Broadcast date Guest Friends Guest and friends' nationality 1 July 27, 2017 Christian Burgos Andrei Felice Salvador Salguelo, Christopher Gonzalez, Pablo Ivana Castillo Soto Mexico 2 August 3, 2017 3 August 10, 2017 4 August 17, 2017 5 August 24, 2017 Daniel Lindemann Daniel Heidelberg, Mario Basur Poor, Peter PersichGermany 6 August 31, 2017 7 September 7, 2017 8 September 14, 2017 9 September 21, 2017 10 September 28, 2017 Yudina Svetlana Regina, Anastasia, Elena Russia 11 October 5, 2017 12 October 12, 2017 13 October 19, 2017 "Lucky" Abhishek Gupta Bikram, Shashank, Kashif India 14 October 26, 2017 15 November 2, 2017 16 November 9, 2017 17 November 16, 2017 Petri Kalliola Ville, Vilppu, SamiFinland 18 November 23, 2017 19 November 30, 2017 20 December 7, 2017 21 December 14, 2017 Robin Deiana Viktor, Marvin, Martin France 22 December 21, 2017 23 December 28, 201724January 4, 201825January 11, 2018James HooperDavid, Simon, AndrewUnited Kingdom26January 18, 201827January 25, 201828February 1, 201829February 8, 2018Alberto Mondi

Christian Burgos

Daniel Lindemann

"Lucky" Abhishek Gupta"Welcome, Second Time in Korea?" – Jeju Island Special Luca Bertho, Federico Minto, Francesco Pietro Bonn

Andrei Felice Salvador Salguelo, Christopher Gonzalez, Pablo Ivana Castillo Soto

Daniel Heidelberg, Peter Persich

Bikram, Shashank, KashifItalyMexicoGermanyIndia30February 15, 201831February 22, 201832March 1, 201833March 8, 2018

Season 2 (May 10, 2018 – October 9, 2025) Episode Broadcast date Guest Friends Guest and friends' nationality 1 May 10, 2018 Jang Min Asael, Antonio, Neftali Spain 2 May 17, 2018 3May 24, 20184May 31, 20185June 7, 2018Alex MazzucchelliAlessandro, Samuel, AnthonySwitzerland6June 14, 20187June 21, 20188June 28, 20189July 5, 2018Abigail AldereteVeronica, Diana, SylviaParaguay10July 12, 201811July 19, 201812July 26, 201813August 2, 2018Sujan ShakyaAnoj, Rina, Eliza, ShyamNepal14August 9, 201815August 16, 201816August 23, 201817August 30, 2018Lee Dong JunWilliam Reese, Brian Mills, Robert WoodUnited States18September 6, 201819September 13, 201820September 20, 201821September 27, 2018Sinasi AlpagoMikail, Mert, JihatTurkey22October 4, 201823October 11, 201824October 18, 201825October 25, 2018Blair WilliamsMark, Meg, KaitlinAustralia26November 1, 201827November 8, 201828November 15, 201829November 22, 2018Oumeima FatihBtissam Fatih, Maroua Brahimi, Asma BenbouzidMorocco30November 29, 201831December 6, 201832December 13, 201833December 20, 2018Jakob MinellJakob, Viktor, PatrickSweden34December 27, 201835January 3, 201936January 10, 201937January 17, 2019Petri Kalliola"Welcome, Second Time in Korea?" – Viewers' Tour Special Ville, Vilppu, SamiFinland38January 24, 201939January 31, 201940February 7, 201941February 14, 2019Przemysław Kazimierz KrompiecIreneusz, Roberto, KarolinaPoland42February 21, 201943February 28, 201944March 7, 201945March 14, 2019Tatchara LongprasertTon, Green, NaveenThailand46March 21, 201947March 28, 201948April 4, 201949April 11, 2019Gerson Alejandro Castillo RivasMarjory, Soyeong, Jeongmi, HaramChile50April 18, 201951April 25, 201952May 2, 201953May 9, 2019Justin HarveyShaun, Char, PhumlaniSouth Africa54May 16, 201955May 23, 201956May 30, 201957June 6, 2019YanickJasper, Rene, MichielNetherlands58June 13, 201959June 20, 201960June 27, 201961July 4, 2019David WoodworthDarrin, Sam, Danny, KyleCanada62July 11, 201963July 18, 201964July 25, 201965August 1, 2019Blair Williams"Couple Special" Meg, Kait, John, MattAustralia66August 8, 201967August 15, 201968August 22, 201969August 29, 20195 Seconds of Summer"5SOS Special" Luke, Calum, Ashton, MichaelAustralia70September 5, 2019John & Mac (United States)"Yo! Welcome To Korea, Kids~" Ben, Harry, Jack, Georgina (Mom)United Kingdom (Wales)71September 12, 201972September 19, 201973September 26, 201974October 3, 2019HaakonEirik, Bode, PabloNorway75October 10, 201976October 17, 201977October 24, 201978October 31, 2019Neil SmithDaniel, Dara, BarryIreland79November 7, 201980November 14, 201981November 21, 201982November 28, 2019GraceMaribel, Aleida, JoseDominican Republic83December 5, 201984December 12, 201985December 19, 201986December 26, 2019AlaverdiEmin, Murad, RuslanAzerbaijan87January 2, 202088January 9, 202089January 16, 202090January 23, 2020ChristianBjorn, Anton, AsgerDenmark91January 30, 202092February 6, 202093February 13, 202094February 21, 2020MosesElbe, Breze, FabriceRwanda95February 28, 202096March 3, 202097March 12, 202098March 20, 2020Julian QuintartOlivier Conrardy, Ulysse, Jon Jon, Olivier JourdainBelgium99March 26, 2020100April 2, 2020101April 9, 2020

"Living in Korea" Special (2020 ~ 2022) The show's format changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of having foreigners travel to Korea, the guests are foreigners already living in the country who show aspects of their daily life and experiences in Korea. EpisodeBroadcast dateSegment guests Theme / Notes102April 16, 2020Sissel (Denmark), Christian Burgos (Mexico), Chris Johnson (U.S.)103April 23, 2020Greg (U.S.), Karl Wayne (U.S.), Chris Johnson (U.S.)104April 30, 2020Philip Hellquist (Sweden) & Armin Mujakic (Austria) (of Chungnam Asan FC), Andreas (Greece)Guest host: Christian Burgos Mujakic is absent from the studio panel105May 7, 2020Justin Harvey (South Africa), Pierce Conran (Ireland)Guest host: Andreas Special appearance by Darcy Paquet 106May 14, 2020Justin Harvey (South Africa), Lucky (India)Guest host: Andreas107May 21, 2020David & Stephanie Rowe (U.S.), Chris Johnson (U.S.)Guest host: Christian Burgos108May 28, 2020Armin Mujakic (Austria) & Philip Hellquist (Sweden), Alessandro (Spain)Guest host: Jang Min Philip is absent from the studio panel109June 4, 2020Jonathan Prout (U.S.), Matthew Douma (Canada)Guest host: Ilya Belyakov110June 11, 2020Steven (Netherlands), Andreas (Greece) & Justin (South Africa)111June 18, 2020Maxim (Russia), Blair (Australia)Guest host: Tyler Rasch112June 25, 2020David & Stephanie Rowe (U.S.)Guest hosts: Jang Min & Ilya Belyakov113July 2, 2020Armin Mujakic (Austria) & Philip Hellquist (Sweden), Gerson (Chile)114July 9, 2020Anton (Sweden), Andreas (Greece) & Justin (South Africa)Special look into IKEA Korea office (Anton)115July 16, 2020Fabien (France), David & Stephanie Rowe (U.S.)Guest host: Fabien attempts the Korean History Proficiency Test116July 23, 2020Daniel Tudor (UK), David & Stephanie Rowe (U.S.)Guest hosts: Christian Burgos, Chris Johnson David is absent from the studio panel117July 30, 2020Greg (U.S.), David & Stephanie Rowe (U.S.)Guest host: Young Tak118August 6, 2020Paolo (Italy), Ivan (Italy)Guest host: 119August 13, 2020Joseph (Germany), Chris Johnson (U.S.)Guest host: Daniel Lindemann Special look into KAIST research facility (Joseph) & special appearance by Andreas (Chris)120August 20, 2020Soledad & Florencia (Argentina)Guest host: Christian Burgos121August 27, 2020Jonathan Prout (U.S.), David Gerry (U.S.)Guest host: Han Hyun-min122September 3, 2020Armin Mujakic (Austria), Philip Hellquist (Sweden) & Bruno (Brazil)123September 10, 2020Pierce Conran (Ireland) with Jason (UK), Marc (Canada) & Patrick (U.S.)"Korean Film Tour" Guest hosts: Ju Seong-chul (ep. 123–124), Ilya Belyakov (ep. 123), Kim So-hye (ep. 124)

Only Pierce is present on the studio panel124September 17, 2020125September 24, 2020Allen (Norway) & Milla (Finland), Victoire (France)126October 1, 2020Paolo (Italy), Jeannie (U.S.)Guest host: Chris Johnson127October 8, 2020Fabian, Alvaro & Asier (Spain)"Daebu-do Tour" Guest host: Alejandro

Only Fabian is present on the studio panel128October 15, 2020Jason (UK) & Patrick (U.S.), Brendan (U.S.)129October 22, 2020Jason Boutte (U.S.) (CEO of food delivery service Shuttle)Guest host: Christian Burgos Last episode for main host Shin A-young130October 29, 2020Hoermann (France), Jonathan Prout (U.S.)Guest host: Chris Johnson First episode for main host

Special look into LG Electronics head office (Hoermann)131November 5, 2020James Hooper (UK) with Alberto, Paolo (Italy) & Eugene (Moldova)"Human-Powered Danyang Tour" Guest host: Christian Burgos

Eugene is absent from the studio panel132November 12, 2020Vilppu (Finland)Guest hosts: Christian Burgos, Leo Ranta Newlywed Vilppu returns to Korea with his Korean wife to visit her family133November 19, 2020Graham Nelson (UK), Vilppu (Finland)Guest hosts: James Hooper, Ekaterina Special look into the British Embassy (Graham), with special appearance by Ban Ki-moon134November 26, 2020Andreas (Greece) & Justin (South Africa), Fabrizio Ferrari (Italy)135December 3, 2020Fabrizio Ferrari (Italy)Guest host: Paolo Special appearance by Baek Jong-won136December 10, 2020Vilppu with Leo & Jouni (Finland)"A Special Trip to Andong" Vilppu visits the ancestral hometown of his wife's family; Jouni is absent from the studio panel137December 17, 2020David & Stephanie Rowe (U.S.)"Trip to Jeongeup" Guest hosts: James Hooper, Christian Burgos138December 24, 2020Michael Ebbesen (Denmark) (General Manager of Lego Korea)Guest hosts: David Rowe, Christian Burgos Special look into Lego Korea office139December 31, 2020Jason (UK) & Patrick (U.S.), Ekaterina (Russia)Guest hosts: Graham Nelson, James Hooper140January 7, 2021Vilppu (Finland)"Ten Flavours of Daegu" Tour (Vilppu) Guest hosts: , Leo Ranta

Vilppu is absent from the studio panel141January 14, 2021David & Stephanie Rowe (U.S.), Vilppu (Finland)142January 21, 2021David & Stephanie Rowe (U.S.)"Trip to Gochang" Guest host: