On October 22, Yoo Jae-suk, Lee Kwang-soo, and Kwon Yu-ri of Girls’ Generation, some of the most popular celebrities in Korea, visited the KAIST Daejeon campus to film the second season of an entertainment show called The Zone: Survival Mission, streamed on Disney+. Each season of the show consists of eight episodes that are around 54 minutes long and depicts a potential future disaster. The show creates scenarios of inevitable calamities threatening humanity such as a zombie apocalypse, extreme water shortage, and gambling addiction, which the three cast members attempt to “survive” through. 

The shoot started at the Auditorium (E15), and the cast visited the Department of Mathematical Sciences in E6, KI building (E4), the Duck Pond, the Main Administration building (E14), Chung Moon Soul building (E16), the Graduate School of Mobility Lab (N1), the North soccer field, Kaimaru (N11), and the Sports Complex (N3). Although the exact content for the episode filmed at KAIST is unknown, it is expected to involve robots as the cast met a delivery robot at E4. On the day of the shoot, many students spotted the cast on a four-wheeled floatable vehicle around N11 and going into the Duck Pond. Some also say that Yoo Jae-suk bought lunch for all the students at Kaimaru during lunch time.

As the storyline of the show deals with disasters that are less relatable to daily life, there are many opposing opinions on the show. While the release date of the new season has not yet been announced, this episode will certainly attract many KAIST students and faculty.