Byeon Woo-seok

Byeon Woo-seok (Korean: 변우석; born October 31, 1991) is a South Korean actor and model whose international visibility expanded sharply with the 2024 television drama Lovely Runner. He first worked as a fashion model, beginning in 2010, before moving into acting. His early screen appearances included the 2016 historical series Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo and the 2017 youth drama Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo. In 2019, he played Do Jun, a handsome but troubled nobleman in Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency, a period romantic comedy about a group that arranges marriages. The following year, Record of Youth gave him a larger contemporary role as Won Hae-hyo, an affluent aspiring actor and longtime friend and rival of Park Bo-gum's Sa Hye-jun. The series placed his character's professional ambitions beside the advantages and pressures created by his wealthy family. Byeon played the male lead Poong Woon-ho in Netflix's 2022 film 20th Century Girl. Set in 1999, the coming-of-age romance follows Bo-ra, who initially watches Hyun-jin for her best friend Yeon-du, then develops feelings for Woon-ho. His character's eventual departure for New Zealand and later reunion with Bo-ra are central to the film's bittersweet ending. In 2023's Strong Girl Nam-soon, he shifted to a villainous part, portraying Ryu Shi-o, the ruthless chief executive of the drug-distribution company Doogo. Lovely Runner cast Byeon as Ryu Sun-jae, a top idol from the fictional band Eclipse whose death opens the story. Kim Hye-yoon plays Im Sol, a devoted fan who travels back to 2008 after his death and tries to alter the events leading to it. The drama, adapted from Kim Bbang's web novel Tomorrow's Best, paired time travel with a romance that moves across several periods of the characters' lives. The series aired on tvN. Before Lovely Runner, Byeon also appeared in Min Yong-keun's 2023 film Soulmate as Ham Jin-woo, a man connected to Ahn Mi-so, played by Jeon So-nee. The movie is a Korean adaptation of the Chinese film Soul Mate and centers on the decades-spanning friendship between Mi-so and Go Ha-eun, played by Kim Da-mi. Across these projects, his credits have ranged from a privileged actor-in-training and a 1990s schoolboy to a narcotics-company leader and an idol whose career is shown both before and after a fatal crisis. That range makes the chronology of his work visible in the characters themselves, rather than only in changing titles and fashion-runway work over fourteen years.