Will Tennyson Investigates South Korea’s Obsession With Thinness

[Will Tennyson]

South Korea is known worldwide for beauty trends, skincare, K-pop, and plastic surgery, but Will Tennyson’s investigation reveals a more uncomfortable side of that image-driven culture: intense pressure to be thin.

In the video, Will visits South Korea to explore how body image standards affect everyday life. He starts with a public “fat test” in a children’s park, where people try to fit through increasingly narrow spaces labeled with body-shaming categories. Even though Will is fit and muscular, the experience shows how quickly appearance can be turned into a public judgment.

Throughout the trip, he finds that South Korea has embraced an entire market built around dieting and low-calorie living. Zero-calorie snacks, zero-sugar cafes, protein meals, diet restaurants, and sugar-free drinks are everywhere. While some of these options can support healthier eating, the video questions whether they also reflect a deeper fear of gaining weight.

Will also speaks with locals and Korean-American creator Daniel O about beauty expectations. They discuss how thinness, small facial proportions, plastic surgery, and “ideal” body types are often treated as social currency. Clothing stores frequently use “free size” or one-size-fits-all garments, which can make foreigners or larger-bodied people feel excluded.

The video also explores how direct comments about weight are more common in Korea than in many Western cultures. Some people frame these comments as concern, but Will highlights how they can still create anxiety and pressure. Several interviews suggest that overweight visitors may struggle with shopping, social judgment, or feeling out of place.

A major part of the investigation focuses on more extreme methods of body modification, including fat-melting injections, cosmetic clinics, and weight-loss drugs. Will visits an area known for obesity-related prescriptions and is quickly offered weight-loss medication after a short consultation based mainly on BMI. Despite being muscular and physically fit, he is told he would need to lose 15 kg to reach a “normal” weight, showing the risks of relying too heavily on BMI without looking at body composition or health history.

The video’s message is not that health does not matter. Instead, it questions what happens when health becomes mixed with shame, beauty pressure, celebrity culture, and unrealistic expectations. South Korea’s low obesity rate may look impressive from the outside, but Will’s experience shows that thinness can come with a hidden emotional cost.

In the end, the investigation presents South Korea as a place where discipline, beauty, and wellness are highly valued, but also where the pressure to look perfect can become overwhelming. The video asks viewers to think more carefully about the difference between being healthy and simply being thin.

 

[talktomybiceps]

I watched that video, and the part that stuck with me wasn't the extreme diets—it was how normal they seemed to the people around them. When you're immersed in a culture that constantly rewards being thinner, it stops feeling extreme and just becomes the expectation.

As bodybuilders, we're not exactly immune to that either. Plenty of us have pushed calories way too low for a show or chased a look that wasn't sustainable. The difference is that most of us know contest shape is temporary. If you're trying to stay peeled year-round, sooner or later your training, hormones, and quality of life usually take a hit.

I did like that Will showed both sides instead of painting every Korean the same way. There are definitely strong cultural pressures there, but it's also true that not everyone buys into them. It's easy to watch a documentary and assume an entire country thinks the same way, when reality is usually a lot more nuanced.