''Steel Troops'' () is a

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

broadcast on Channel A and skyTV. Dubbed a "military survival program," the show features male South Korean

reservist A reservist is a person who is a member of a military reserve force. They are otherwise civilians, and in peacetime have careers outside the military. Reservists usually go for training on an annual basis to refresh their skills. This person is ...

s who served in various

special forces Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

units across different branches of the

Republic of Korea Armed Forces The Republic of Korea Armed Forces (), also known as the ROK Armed Forces, are the armed forces of South Korea. The ROK Armed Forces is one of the largest and most powerful standing armed forces in the world with a reported personnel strength of ...

. Participants go head to head in teams of four, representing their respective unit to fight for the title of the best special forces unit in Korea. A series of missions, designed by military experts, test the participants' physical stamina, mental strength, and cooperation to determine the last team standing. Episodes also include concurrent commentary from a panel of hosts, including the "Master" who runs the competition events. Season 1 aired every Tuesday at 22:30 ( KST) from March 23, 2021 to July 20, 2021. This season featured 24 participants from 6 units across the

Republic of Korea Army The Republic of Korea Army (ROKA; ko, 대한민국 육군; Hanja: 大韓民國陸軍; RR: ''Daehanminguk Yuk-gun''), also known as the ROK Army or South Korean Army, is the army of South Korea, responsible for ground-based warfare. It is the l ...

and

Republic of Korea Navy The Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN; ko, 대한민국 해군), also known as the ROK Navy or South Korean Navy, is the naval warfare service branch of the South Korean armed forces, responsible for naval and amphibious operations. The ROK Navy in ...

. It was also released on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

under the title ''The Iron Squad'' and gained a high viewership ranking on release. Season 2 aired every Tuesday at 21:20 ( KST) from February 22, 2022 to June 7, 2022. The new season introduces 2 new units not featured in Season 1, including one from the

Republic of Korea Air Force The Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF; ko, 대한민국 공군; RR: ''Daehanminguk Gong-gun''), also known as the ROK Air Force or South Korean Air Force, is the aerial warfare service branch of South Korea, operating under the Ministry of N ...

, for a total of 32 participants hailing from 8 units.

Hosts

Main Panelists

* Kim Sung-joo *

Jang Dong-min Jang Dong-min (; born July 20, 1979), is a South Korean comedian. He is known as ‘comedian who curses a lot’, (his comedy style is mainly on yelling and cursing). He is part of Gag Concert's 19th class (class of 2004), together with Yoo Se-yoo ...

Kim Hee-chul Kim Hee-chul (; born July 10, 1983), better known mononymously as Heechul, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, presenter and actor. He is a member of the South Korean boy band Super Junior and has further participated in its subgroup Super ...

* Kim Dong-hyun * Choi Young-jae (Master) * Chuu (Season 1) *

An Yu-jin An Yu-jin (; born September 1, 2003), better known mononymously as Yujin, is a South Korean singer. She is the leader of the South Korean girl group Ive under Starship Entertainment. Yujin rose to prominence after finishing fifth on Mnet's gir ...

(Season 2)

Guest Panelists

* (Season 1, Ep. 13; Season 2, Ep. 6, 10-14) * Yujeong (

Brave Girls Brave Girls (; also known as B. Girls or BG) is a South Korean girl group formed by producer Brave Brothers in 2011 and managed by Brave Entertainment. After making their debut with the single album ''The Difference'' on April 7, 2011, the grou ...

) (Season 1, Ep. 14) *

Oh Jong-hyuk Oh Jong-hyuk (; born February 16, 1983) is a South Korean singer and member of South Korean boy band Click-B. Personal life Oh was educated at Dankook University High School, and graduated from Kyonggi University. Oh began his mandatory military ...

(Season 2, Ep. 5, 9) * Yuk Jun-Seo (Season 2, Ep. 9-12)

Participants

Each team consists of four reservists representing their respective special forces unit, with a team leader (indicated in bold) selected by the team members. Season 1 Season 2

List of episodes

In the ratings below, the highest rating for the season will be in and the lowest rating for the season will be in . Season 1 Season 2

Mission results

Season 1

The first three elimination stages followed a

double-elimination tournament A double-elimination tournament is a type of elimination tournament competition in which a participant ceases to be eligible to win the tournament's championship upon having lost ''two'' games or matches. It stands in contrast to a single-elimina ...

style, with a main mission (indicated in bold) determining the participants of the "Death Match" elimination round. Following the revival round, the competition switched to a

single-elimination A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

style without a Death Match. Each stage also featured "Benefit Mission(s)," where the winner would be given an advantage in the main mission that followed. In the case of the second elimination stage, the lowest-ranking team was also sent directly to Death Match, bypassing the main mission.

Season 2

The second season continues with the format of main missions and Death Matches, with the exception of the first elimination stage which was a direction elimination round. The advantages provided in Benefit Missions have also been upgraded in quantity and quality. For example, in the case of the second elimination stage, the top-ranking team bypasses the main mission and automatically advances to the next stage.

Notes

References

External links

Season 1 website

Season 2 website
{{ENA 2021 South Korean television series debuts Channel A (TV channel) original programming ENA (South Korean TV channel) original programming South Korean variety television shows South Korean military television series