Wi Ha-joon

In this Korean name, the family name is Wi.

Wi Ha-joon (Korean: 위하준; born Wi Hyun-yi (위현이); August 5, 1991) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his role as Hwang Jun-ho in Squid Game (2021–2025). Wi has also starred in the films Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (2018), Shark: The Beginning (2021) and Midnight (2021), as well as the television series Something in the Rain (2018), Romance Is a Bonus Book (2019), 18 Again (2020), Bad and Crazy (2021), Little Women (2022), The Worst of Evil (2023), and The Midnight Romance in Hagwon (2024). In 2022, Wi was named one of GQ Korea's Men of the Year.^[1] Wi is managed by MSTeam Entertainment.^[2]

Wi Ha-joon
Wi in April 2021
Born	Wi Hyun-yi (1991-08-05) August 5, 1991 (age 33) Wando County, South Jeolla Province, South Korea
Education	Sungkyul University
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2012–present
Agent	MSTeam Entertainment
Korean name
Hangul	위하준
Revised Romanization	Wi Hajun
McCune–Reischauer	Wi Hajun
Birth name
Hangul	위현이
Revised Romanization	Wi Hyeoni
McCune–Reischauer	Wi Hyŏni

Early life and education

Wi Ha-joon was born on August 5, 1991, on the island of Soando in Wanju County, South Jeolla Province, and grew up on his family's abalone farm.^[3] He attended Sungkyul University, majoring in theatre and film.^[3] He completed his military service prior to debuting as an actor.^[4]

Career

Wi made his acting debut in 2012, starring in the short film Peace in Them.^[4][5] Wi made small appearances in several films, before he was cast in a main role in the 2018 film Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum. The same year, he appeared in a supporting role in the television series Something in the Rain.

In 2019, Wi appeared in the television series Romance Is a Bonus Book alongside Lee Jong-suk, Lee Na-young and Jung Yoo-jin. The series received positive reviews and Wi was praised for his acting, earning a nomination for Best New Actor - Television at the 55th Baeksang Arts Awards.^[6] In 2020, Wi appeared as a famous baseball athlete in the television series 18 Again, based on the American film 17 Again.

Wi received international recognition in 2021 for his role in the hit Netflix series Squid Game, portraying the character Hwang Jun-ho, a police officer who sneaks into the game to find his missing brother. The cast was praised by critics for their acting and the show itself won numerous awards, including six Primetime Emmy Awards and the Grand Prize at the 58th Baeksang Arts Awards.^[7] Wi reprised his role as Hwang Jun-ho in 2024 for the second season.

In 2021, Wi also played a serial killer in the thriller film Midnight, and starred alongside Lee Dong-wook in the television series Bad and Crazy. Wi returned in 2022 with the Netflix series Little Women. The series achieved double-digit ratings for its final episode in South Korea.^[8]

In 2023, Wi starred in the Disney+ series The Worst of Evil alongside Ji Chang-wook and Im Se-mi,^[9] and the Netflix series Gyeongseong Creature alongside Park Seo-joon, Han So-hee, Soo Hyun, Kim Hae-sook and Jo Han-chul.^[10]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2012	Peace in Them	Ji-hwan	Short film
2015	Coin Locker Girl	Woo-gon (young)		[11]
	Bad Guys Always Die	Cha Myung-ho	China-South Korean co-production
2016	Eclipse	Jung-tae
2017	Anarchist from Colony	Korean youth in prison
	The Chase	Jung-hyuk (young)
2018	Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum	Ha-joon		[12]
2019	Miss & Mrs. Cops	Jung Woo-jun
2021	Shark: The Beginning	Jeong Do-hyeon		[13][14]
	Midnight	Do-shik		[15][unreliable source?]

Television series

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2016	Goodbye Mr. Black	Ha-joon		[16]
2017	My Golden Life	Ryu Jae-shin		[17]
2018	Something in the Rain	Yoon Seung-ho		[18]
	Matrimonial Chaos	Im Si-ho		[19]
2019	Romance Is a Bonus Book	Ji Seo-joon		[20]
2020	Soul Mechanic	Oh Yoo-min	Cameo (Episode 1 and 4)	[21]
	18 Again	Ye Ji-hoon		[22]
2021–2022	Bad and Crazy	K		[23]
2021–2025	Squid Game	Hwang Jun-ho	Season 1–3	[24][25]
2022	Little Women	Choi Do-il		[26]
2023	The Worst of Evil	Jung Gi-cheol		[27]
2023–2024	Gyeongseong Creature	Kwon Jun-taek	Season 1	[28]
2024	The Midnight Romance in Hagwon	Lee Jun-ho		[29]

Web series

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2018	With Coffee	Lee Ha-min		[30][31]
TBA	Shark: The Storm	Jeong Do-hyeon	Special appearance	[32]

Television shows

Year	Title	Notes	Ref.
2018	Island Trio	Season 2, guest appearance	[33]

Discography

Singles

Title	Year	Album
"Maybe It's Too Late" (늦은 거겠지)	2018	Matrimonial Chaos OST Part 2

Ambassadorship

• Public relations ambassador from Soan-myeon (2022)^[34]

Awards and nominations

Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination

Award ceremony	Year	Category	Nominee / Work	Result	Ref.
Screen Actors Guild Awards	2022	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	Squid Game	Nominated	[35]
Baeksang Arts Awards	2019	Best New Actor – Television	Romance Is a Bonus Book	Nominated	[36]
Blue Dragon Film Awards	2018	Best New Actor	Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum	Nominated	[37]
Chunsa Film Art Awards	2018	Best New Actor		Nominated	[38]
Grand Bell Awards	2018			Nominated	[38]
Korea Drama Awards	2018		Something in the Rain	Nominated	[39]

Listicles

Name of publisher, year listed, name of listicle, and placement

Publisher	Year	Listicle	Placement	Ref.
Cine21	2021	New Actors that will lead Korean Video Content Industry in 2022	5th[a]	[40]
		Actors that will lead Korean Video Content Industry in 2022	6th[b]

Notes

1. mentioned together with Rowoon, Kim Seon-ho, Song Kang, Byeon Woo-seok, Lee Jun-young
2. mentioned together with Kim Seon-ho, Kim Soo-hyun, Jo Jung-suk, Park Jeong-min, Song Kang-ho, Ma Dong-seok, Ahn Bo-hyun, Ryu Jun-yeol, Choi Woo-shik