Jang Ki-yong

The Model Who Hated His Smile

Jang Ki-yong is 187 cm tall, and during his first years in the industry he wore metal braces. That physical detail, which many would consider an obstacle, helped him stand out on Seoul runways in 2012. The agency K-Plus was looking for faces with imperfections, and he fit that tough-yet-vulnerable bad-boy look.

He won the Best Model award at the 2014 Asian Model Awards. It was a quick recognition that opened the doors of Korean television almost immediately. But his move to screen acting was not smooth, since Korean audiences are often unforgiving with models who try to act.

He made his debut with a tiny role in It's Okay, That's Love in 2014. He appeared on screen for only a few seconds as the boyfriend of one of the female leads. That experience taught him that film cameras demand a restraint that the runway ignores.

And the gamble paid off.

In 2017, he appeared in Go Back Couple and his luck changed. He played a perfect university student who pined for the female lead. Audiences started noticing his deep voice and his ability to convey melancholy without saying a single word. That role let him leave the fashion runways for good to focus on acting in scripted dramas.

The Weight of a Fictional Surname

The year 2018 was a time of high risk. He took on the lead in Come and Hug Me, a dark drama in which he played the son of a serial killer. It was a complex role that demanded an exhausting emotional intensity from an actor with so little prior experience. Still, the result surprised critics in his home country.

He won the Best New Actor award at the 2019 Baeksang Arts Awards. That award is the South Korean equivalent of the Golden Globes and it was his definitive validation as a serious actor. From then on, his fees climbed exponentially and luxury brands started competing for his image.

The industry no longer saw him as a model who acted.

In 2019, he filmed Search: WWW and completely changed his style. He played a video game composer in a story focused on female power within tech companies. The series was a niche hit but helped build his image as a modern, caring leading man.

He kept working nonstop until 2021. That year he premiered My Roommate Is a Gumiho, a fantasy comedy that performed very well in international markets. The production drew massive viewership on Asian streaming platforms before he had to take a mandatory break from his career.

The Uniform Interlude

On August 23, 2021, he enlisted in the army to complete his mandatory military service. Before leaving, he filmed the series Now, We Are Breaking Up alongside Song Hye-kyo. It was a planned marketing strategy so that his absence would not be felt too much on screen during the months of basic training.

He spent almost two years away from the spotlight and high-definition cameras. He fulfilled his duties in an infantry division and was discharged on February 22, 2023. His exit from the barracks was followed by hundreds of reporters hoping to capture the first image of the actor since his military break.

His return to television came with The Atypical Family in 2024. In this JTBC production, he plays a man with superpowers who loses his abilities due to clinical depression. It is an unconventional approach to the superhero genre and shows his interest in characters with psychological edges.

His contract renewal with the agency YG Entertainment was signed at the end of 2023. The terms prioritize his participation in thriller feature films over the next five years. Jang Ki-yong lives in the Yongsan district and trains boxing three times a week to prepare for his action scenes.