Han Suk-kyu

Han Suk-kyu (born November 3, 1964) is a South Korean actor. One of the leading actors of Korean cinema, Han's notable works include Green Fish (1997), No. 3 (1997), Christmas in August (1998), Shiri (1999), The Scarlet Letter (2004), and The President's Last Bang (2005), and Dr. Romantic (2016–2023). He won the Grand Prize (Daesang) at the 2011 SBS Drama Awards, for his lead role as King Sejong in the historical drama Deep Rooted Tree (2011). He won the Grand Prize (Daesang) Award again in 2016, for his performance as Master Kim in the hit medical drama Dr. Romantic (2016). In 2019, he played the role of police in the drama Watcher. And, he reprised his role in Dr. Romantic 2 (2020). Life and career While a student at the Theater and Film department of Dongguk University, he sang in an amateur folk rock band. He took a brief, year-long contract as voice actor at KBS, before moving on to TV and film acting. After a debut in the 1990 MBC campus drama Our Paradise, Han rose to stardom as "Hong-shik" in The Moon of Seoul (1994), a charming gigolo from the slums determined to attain wealth at all cost in the big city. "Choon-seop", an old friend from hometown played by Choi Min-sik, struggles hopelessly to stop "Hong-shik" from his self-ruin. The partnership of Han and Choi as uneasy allies or foes, parlayed into two flagship films of the 1990s: No. 3 and Shiri. Both the series and "Hong-shik" character have since become beloved icons, as part of the Korean television's golden era before the advent of Korean Wave.