Park Hae-jin (박해진)

Have you ever been so popular that your photo has appeared on postage stamps? In Park-Hae-jin's case, yes.

Photo from HanCinema

Birthday: May 1, 1983 Instagram: @parkhaezin_official

Recognized as one of the 100 most influential cultural figures in China, Park Hae-jin was the first Korean to be featured in both regular-issue and limited-edition stamps. He became famous after starring in the Chinese series Duo Duo’s Marriage (2011), garnering 1.5 billion views in two weeks. He was also the first Korean male actor to win Best Asian Actor at the 2012 LETV Film and Drama Awards, impressing even non-fans by delivering his acceptance speech in Mandarin.

He is no stranger to awards, having won Best New Actor at the 43rd Baeksang Arts Awards for Famous Chil Princesses, the weekend drama that launched his acting career in 2006. His roles as a man estranged from his twin sister (Lee Bo-young) in the family series Seoyoung, My Daughter (2012) and a longtime friend of the female lead Cheon Song-yi (Jun Ji-hyun) in the megahit rom-com My Love from the Star (2013) propelled him to further fame within and beyond South Korea.

Together with Kim Sang-joong and Ma Dong-sook, he played a genius math and philosophy doctor-serial killer in the OCN crime series Bad Guys (2014). He then starred as a rich, manipulative student in Cheese in the Trap opposite Kim Go-eun in the 2016 k-drama and alongside Oh Yeon-seo in the 2018 movie, where both versions were adapted from a webtoon of the same title. He also acted opposite Park Sung-woong as an NIS agent disguised as a bodyguard in the action-thriller series Man x Man (2017) and an executive who pays back his abusive former boss (Kim Eung-soo) in the workplace comedy Kkondae Intern (2020). Last year, he starred in the MBC rom-com From Now On, Showtime! where he played a famous magician.

His world not limited to acting, he hosted Park Hae-jin's Random Box on Naver in 2021. Widely known as a philanthropist, he has campaigned for cultural cooperation with China, smoking and drinking prevention, and financial savings. He has been an honorary firefighter, later promoted to an honorary fire marshall.

Reuniting with Park Sung-woong, he has been confirmed to appear in the upcoming SBS drama National Death Penalty Vote as the youngest police officer to lead a regional investigative unit.