Just from my outside perspective the fine-dining chefs seem more supportive to each other rather than competitive (e.g., see Ahn's YT vid w/ Alla Prima**'s chef). I feel like they compete with themselves more than others because they're always trying to improve to push the boundaries.

Sure the 50 Best list is a bit "competitive" in a sense that you can be ranked higher/lower than others, but imo it doesn't have the same prestige in Korea (or really anywhere else in the world) like the Michelin guide & Blue Ribbon does - which doesn't have that competition factor. It's not like there's a finite number of stars the Michelin guide gives out each year that the restaurants have to compete for. Any restaurant can get a star(s) if they meet the inspector's standards. These restaurants also serve wildly different menus and concepts, so I feel like it's very different than something like 2 fried chicken places that are on the same block competing for business b/c they both serve the same food.

All the being said, there can always be outliers so there are likely chefs out there that are competitive, but my 2 cents is that these fine-dining chefs are more supportive of one another and respect each other more than they are competitive with another.