Kang Ha-neul

Kang Ha-neul (born Kim Ha-neul on February 21, 1990) is a South Korean actor whose early work was rooted in musical theatre. He was born in Busan, and studied theatre at Chung-Ang University. His professional debut came in the 2007 stage musical Thrill Me, a two-character work adapted from Stephen Dolginoff's play. He later appeared in the Korean productions of Prince of Broadway and Assassins, building a reputation as a performer comfortable with both singing and acting. Theatre remained part of his career, including roles in musicals such as Black Mary Poppins and Harold and Maude. His screen work eventually

brought him a much wider audience. He played high-jumper Min Hyeon-jae in the 2012 television drama To the Beautiful You, based on the Japanese shōjo manga Hana-Kimi. In 2013, he portrayed Lee Hyo-shin, a gifted but troubled high-school student, in the teen drama The Heirs. His performance in Misaeng: Incomplete Life (2014) made him especially recognizable as Jang Baek-ki, an ambitious intern at a trading company. The series adapted Yoon Tae-ho's webtoon and focused on precarious office workers, with Im Si-wan playing rookie Jang Geu-rae. Kang won an APAN Star Award for Excellence in a Miniseries for Misaeng. In the

following year, he led the coming-of-age comedy Twenty as Kim Kyung-jae, one of three friends confronting adulthood. He received the Best New Actor prize at the 52nd Baeksang Arts Awards for that film. In Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet, he played poet Yun Dong-ju during the Japanese colonial period. The black-and-white 2016 film was directed by Lee Joon-ik and also starred Park Jeong-min as Yun's cousin, Song Mong-gyu. Kang won the Best Actor award at the 2016 Korean Association of Film Critics Awards for Dongju. In 2017, he appeared in the thriller Forgotten as Jin-seok, a man whose brother

returns after a kidnapping with altered behavior. In 2019, Kang enlisted for mandatory military service and was discharged in May 2021. During that period, his pre-enlistment work reached viewers through When the Camellia Blooms. In the 2019 KBS series, he played Hwang Yong-sik, an earnest police officer who loves Dong-baek, a single mother played by Gong Hyo-jin. The drama combined romance with a murder-mystery plot involving the serial killer known as Joker. Kang received the Grand Prize (Daesang) at the 2019 KBS Drama Awards. He later headlined The Pirates The Last Royal Treasure and starred in the 2022 drama Insider.