Park Bo Gum is returning to the salon with a license to prove it. The actor has passed South Koreaâs national technical qualification exam for general hairdressing on his second attempt, tvN confirmed, and will put the new credential to work in the second season of the networkâs seaside salon variety show âBogum Magical 2,â which premieres in November.
The achievement closes a storyline that began during the showâs first season. While filming Season 1, Park Bo Gum studied for the hairdresser exam, squeezing perm practice into a busy acting schedule, but failed the practical portion of the test. That meant he could not offer perm services at the Season 1 shop, even as he ran the salon. Rather than letting the attempt end as a one-off television challenge, he kept practicing while preparing for Season 2 and passed on his second try.
The exam is no formality. Koreaâs national hairdresser qualification, which requires passing both written and practical evaluations, carries an average pass rate of only around 20 to 30 percent, with the practical test demanding precise techniques completed within a set time. Park Bo Gumâs pass adds a second professional credential to his resume: he previously earned a national barbering qualification while serving in the military, and now holds both barber and hairdresser licenses.
tvN unveiled the first teaser for the new season on October 26, about seven months after Season 1 ended. The show follows Park Bo Gum and his castmates as they run a hair salon in Tongyeong, a small seaside village, styling residentsâ hair and sharing conversations with customers along the way. Park Bo Gum handles perm services in the new season, Lee Sang-yi, who appeared in Season 1, returns to handle nail services, and Go Kyung-pyo joins the cast as a new member in charge of greeting customers.
The new teaser leans into the comedy of the setting. The trio is shown opening the Tongyeong salon and welcoming customers, only to be thrown by the local Gyeongsang dialect. âWe couldnât understand a single thing,â the cast members say, visibly flustered. In one moment, Park Bo Gum asks a young customer for an honest verdict on his own speech, saying, âDoes uncleâs dialect sound weird?â The child answers without hesitation: âYes.â
An earlier teaser released on October 23 offered a sunnier first look at the season. It showed Park Bo Gum heading to work with a spring in his step through a sunlit village, arriving at a salon dressed with flower vines and an exotic atmosphere. Looking around the new shop, he described it as âa place where magic happens,â a line that captures the showâs premise: a salon meant to tend to both hair and hearts.
That premise is what separates the show from a standard celebrity variety format. In Season 1, Park Bo Gumâs sincerity about learning a real trade became part of the appeal, as viewers watched him practice techniques between filming commitments and take the exam seriously rather than treating it as a prop. Season 2 builds directly on that arc: the newly licensed âDirector Parkâ is expected to show a noticeably upgraded range of skills, including the perm work he could not offer last time, while the salon itself moves to a new village and a new set of regulars.
The casting adds its own dynamic. Lee Sang-yi, Park Bo Gumâs close friend and a major presence in Season 1, returns to anchor the salonâs continuity, while Go Kyung-pyoâs arrival as a new member gives the trio a fresh combination to test against the villageâs customers. The showâs format, built on unscripted encounters with locals, means much of the season will rest on how the three handle the gap between celebrity polish and small-town life, a gap the dialect scene in the new teaser plays for laughs.
âBogum Magical 2â is set to premiere on tvN in November. With a national license in hand and a new salon to run, Park Bo Gum heads into the season not as a celebrity trying out hairdressing, but as a qualified hairdresser returning to a job he has spent two seasons learning.
