The Soldiers () is a South Korean military-themed reality television show. The show seeks to find the "best special forces operator in the world," beginning with selecting the best Korean special forces representatives through a series of missions. Twenty male South Korean reservists who served in various special forces units of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces competed on the show. The cast also includes four former special forces operators from the United Kingdom, Sweden, the United States and South Korea who serve as mentors and later team leaders to the participants.
The show aired on SBS TV from November 19, 2021, to January 28, 2022, every Friday at 23:10 (KST). Longer, uncut versions of each episode were released the following Wednesday at 18:00 (KST) on the YouTube channel "ë´ëµ NDD".
In the first episode, the show was explained as a three-season project:
The survival program has been compared by media and viewers to Steel Troops, which has a similar special forces premise and aired its first season half a year earlier. In response to the comparison, show host Kim Sang-joong said that "[The Soldiers] is more upgraded and entertaining, with more intense missions." Show producer Gi Sang-soo also asserted that The Soldiers is "the first television program of its kind," with its global focus bearing the largest distinction.
In the ratings below, the highest rating for the season will be in and the lowest rating for the season will be in .
The show began with an individual competition, spanning episodes 1 to 3, to assess and rank the 20 participants. At the end of this stage, 4 participants were eliminated. The mentors then collectively ranked the remaining 16 participants prior to selecting their desired team members. However, the top 4 ranked participants were given the right to choose which mentor's team to join instead. From the second half of episode 3, the show then proceeded with the main team competition. In the tables below,