Seventeen years after their original Infinite Challenge collaboration, Jessica and Park Myung Soo have stepped onto the stage together again. Their reunion in Gyeongju brought back one of the most recognizable songs from the variety show’s music-festival era, complete with familiar choreography and the playful chemistry that fans first saw in 2009.
But the performance carried another layer of significance. While Park Myung Soo and Jessica were revisiting their MyungCaDrive partnership, the Gyeongju event also marked a major return for Jessica herself, following years in which her career has included solo music, business activities and work outside South Korea.
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Jessica and Park Myung Soo bring ‘Naengmyeon’ back in Gyeongju
The long-awaited reunion took place on September 19, 2026, at Gyeongju Civic Stadium following the 2026 Infinite Challenge Run in Gyeongju.
The special event combined a running competition with a concert featuring performers connected to the legacy of MBC’s Infinite Challenge. The reported lineup included Jessica, Park Myung Soo, Lee Juck, Zion.T, Yoon Mi Rae and Tiger JK, among others.
For viewers familiar with the history of Infinite Challenge, the appearance of Jessica and Park Myung Soo together immediately connected the 2026 event to one of the show’s most memorable music projects.
Their partnership goes all the way back to 2009, when the two joined forces for the Infinite Challenge Olympic Expressway Song Festival.
They performed as the project duo MyungCaDrive, releasing the song “Naengmyeon.”
The title refers to the Korean cold-noodle dish, and the track became closely associated with the summer-themed music projects created through Infinite Challenge. Park Myung Soo brought his distinctive variety-show personality to the collaboration, while Jessica’s vocals helped shape the sound and identity of the track.
Nearly two decades later, the original pairing was back together.
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Key details from the Gyeongju reunion
| Date | Event | Details |
| 2009 | Infinite Challenge Olympic Expressway Song Festival | Jessica and Park Myung Soo formed MyungCaDrive and released “Naengmyeon” |
| September 19, 2026 | 2026 Infinite Challenge Run in Gyeongju | The event took place at Gyeongju Civic Stadium |
| September 19, 2026 | Post-race concert | Jessica and Park Myung Soo performed “Naengmyeon” together |
| September 20, 2026 | Korean media reports | The reunion was reported as the pair’s first performance together in 17 years |
| September 21, 2026 | Jessica’s post-performance reaction | Jessica shared photographs and wrote “#Naengmyeon Long Time No See.” |
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The 2026 performance recreated the original MyungCaDrive chemistry
The Gyeongju performance was more than Jessica and Park Myung Soo simply singing an old song again.
Footage released through Coupang Play showed the two performers standing side by side as they performed “Naengmyeon.” They also recreated elements of the original choreography, including the playful gestures associated with eating a bowl of cold noodles.
That detail helped make the performance feel like a deliberate callback to the original MyungCaDrive stage rather than an entirely new interpretation of the song.
Korean reports highlighted the synchronized performance and the chemistry between the two performers. The recognizable movements connected the Gyeongju stage directly to the 2009 Infinite Challenge music-festival era.
The result was a reunion built around familiarity. The song was the same, the partnership was the same, and recognizable pieces of the performance were brought back for a new audience.
The difference was the passage of time.
Jessica and Park Myung Soo had not performed “Naengmyeon” together for 17 years.
That makes the Gyeongju appearance particularly notable for viewers who remember the original collaboration.
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Why the Infinite Challenge Run reunion matters
The setting of the performance was also important.
The 2026 Infinite Challenge Run in Gyeongju was built around the legacy of the popular variety program. The special race was followed by a concert featuring performers and personalities connected to Infinite Challenge and its music history.
That meant the reunion was not an isolated appearance.
Instead, the event itself created a natural setting for performers associated with the show’s earlier years to return to the spotlight. Jessica and Park Myung Soo’s “Naengmyeon” performance became one of the clearest links between the 2026 Gyeongju event and the music-festival period of the late 2000s.
The reported concert lineup included Jessica, Park Myung Soo, Lee Juck, Zion.T, Yoon Mi Rae and Tiger JK, among others.
Within that lineup, the return of MyungCaDrive offered a direct connection to a specific Infinite Challenge collaboration from 2009.
The song therefore functioned as more than a performance from the past. It became a bridge between the original music-festival era and the 2026 event.
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Jessica’s return to a Korean domestic stage adds another layer
While the reunion itself was significant, Jessica’s appearance also attracted attention for another reason.
Jessica debuted as a member of Girls’ Generation in 2007 and left the group in 2014. Since then, she has continued her career as a solo artist while also pursuing business ventures and activities outside South Korea.
Her work during the intervening years has included a substantial focus on overseas markets, including China, according to recent Korean reports.
As a result, her appearance in Gyeongju was notable independently of the “Naengmyeon” reunion.
Korean media described the performance as Jessica’s first domestic stage appearance in approximately 12 years.
That figure needs to be kept separate from the 17-year reunion timeline.
The 17 years refers specifically to the time since Jessica and Park Myung Soo last performed “Naengmyeon” together.
The approximately 12 years refers to Jessica’s reported absence from a domestic stage.
Those two timelines are different, and both help explain why the Gyeongju performance attracted attention.
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Two separate returns happened on the same stage
Jessica’s Gyeongju appearance effectively brought together two different pieces of her career history.
One was her return to a Korean domestic stage after a lengthy absence.
The other was her reunion with Park Myung Soo as MyungCaDrive, nearly two decades after their original Infinite Challenge collaboration.
That combination gave the performance a significance beyond simply revisiting a popular song.
It also placed Jessica back on a stage connected to one of the projects from an earlier period of her career.
‘Naengmyeon’ remains connected to the 2009 Infinite Challenge music festival
The original “Naengmyeon” collaboration dates to the 2009 Infinite Challenge Olympic Expressway Song Festival.
Jessica and Park Myung Soo performed as MyungCaDrive, creating a track that became one of the recognizable releases connected to the show’s music-festival projects.
The song’s return in Gyeongju therefore carried an obvious nostalgia element without requiring the performance to become a completely new collaboration.
Instead, the 2026 stage deliberately brought back recognizable parts of what audiences had seen in 2009.
The choreography was revisited. The stage partnership was restored. And the song that had once introduced MyungCaDrive to viewers was performed again by the original pair.
The Gyeongju event itself reinforced that connection by bringing together artists associated with Infinite Challenge and its musical history.
For viewers who followed the show’s music projects during the late 2000s, the performance offered a direct visual connection between that era and the 2026 Infinite Challenge Run.
Jessica acknowledges the reunion with a simple message
After the performance, Jessica also acknowledged the reunion on social media.
She shared photographs from the Gyeongju stage showing herself performing alongside Park Myung Soo and recreating elements of their old partnership.
Her caption was brief:
“#Naengmyeon Long Time No See.”
The post tagged Park Myung Soo and the Infinite Challenge Run account.
The wording neatly reflected what had just happened on stage. After 17 years, “Naengmyeon” had returned with the same Jessica and Park Myung Soo pairing that audiences first saw in 2009.
There was no need for a lengthy explanation. The photographs and the caption pointed directly back to the collaboration’s history.
A 17-year reunion that connected two eras of Infinite Challenge
The Gyeongju performance ultimately brought together two separate forms of return.
For Jessica and Park Myung Soo, it was a 17-year reunion as MyungCaDrive, with “Naengmyeon” once again performed by the original pair.
For Jessica, it was also a reported domestic stage return after approximately 12 years.
The performance deliberately leaned into the history of the original collaboration. Familiar choreography and stage gestures were recreated, giving the audience a direct callback to the 2009 Infinite Challenge Olympic Expressway Song Festival.
At the same time, the 2026 Infinite Challenge Run in Gyeongju provided a setting specifically connected to the legacy of the variety program and its music projects.
That combination made “Naengmyeon” the natural centerpiece of the reunion.
Conclusion
Jessica and Park Myung Soo’s Gyeongju reunion brought “Naengmyeon” back to the stage 17 years after their original MyungCaDrive collaboration. Their performance at Gyeongju Civic Stadium recreated recognizable elements of the 2009 stage while connecting the song to the 2026 Infinite Challenge Run and the program’s enduring musical legacy.
For Jessica, the moment carried an additional significance as Korean media described it as her first domestic stage appearance in approximately 12 years. Her post-performance message, “#Naengmyeon Long Time No See,” captured the simple reality behind the reunion: after years apart, the original “Naengmyeon” pairing was together on stage again.
Source Disclaimer
This article has been prepared based on thorough research of the sources provided above, including event-related material, available performance footage and relevant Korean media reports. The article reflects the information available from those sources as of September 20, 2026, and does not imply independent verification beyond the material provided.
Sources
- Sports Kyunghyang – Jessica returns to a domestic stage with Park Myung Soo
- STARNEWS – Jessica and Park Myung Soo reunite after 17 years
- Maeil Business Newspaper – Reunion confirmed after 17 years
- Run With Me Seoul – 2026 Infinite Challenge Run in Gyeongju event details
- STARNEWS – Jessica’s post-performance reaction
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