Yeon Woo-jin

In this Korean name, the family name is Kim. In the stage name or pen-name, the surname is Yeon.

Kim Bong-hwe (Korean: 김봉회; born July 5, 1984), known professionally as Yeon Woo-jin (Korean: 연우진), is a South Korean actor. He started in the entertainment industry as a model and gained recognition as an actor with his role in Arang and the Magistrate (2012) which earned him a nomination for Best New Actor. He expands his acting repertoire on leading roles in Marriage, Not Dating (2014), Divorce Lawyer in Love (2015), Introverted Boss (2017), Queen for Seven Days (2017) and Judge vs. Judge (2017).

Yeon Woo-jin
Yeon in August 2019
Born	Kim Bong-hwe (1984-07-05) July 5, 1984 (age 40) Gangneung, Gangwon Province, South Korea
Other names	Seo Ji-hoo
Education	Sejong University (Civil & Environmental Engineering)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2009–present
Agent	Jump [ko]
Height	185 cm (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Korean name
Hangul	연우진
Revised Romanization	Yeon U-jin
McCune–Reischauer	Yŏn Uchin
Birth name
Hangul	김봉회
Revised Romanization	Gim Bong-hwe
McCune–Reischauer	Kim Bonghwe
Website	jumpent.co.kr

Career

2007–2013: Beginnings

Kim began his career as a fashion model at the 2007 Seoul Fashion Week and for jeans brand Evisu in 2008. He made his acting debut in the queer coming-of-age film Just Friends? in 2009 under the stage name Seo Ji-hoo. His management agency later changed his stage name to Yeon Woo-jin.^[2]

After playing a teacher in 2010 daily drama All My Love,^[3] he started to gain recognition as the youngest brother in hit 2011 family drama Ojakgyo Family.^[4] Then in his first lead role, Yeon's character falls in love with the daughter of his brother's murderer in the 4-episode Drama Special Just an Ordinary Love Story.^[5][6][7]

In 2012, he was cast as a mysterious villain in the period fantasy-romance Arang and the Magistrate.^[8][9][10] Yeon reunited with Arang director Kim Sang-ho in 2013, to again play the protagonist's rival in the gangster melodrama When a Man Falls in Love.^[11]

Yeon in December 2013

2014–present: Leading roles and rising popularity

This was followed by leading roles in two romantic comedy series: as a commitment-phobic plastic surgeon in Marriage, Not Dating (2014) and as a vengeful office manager-turned-attorney in Divorce Lawyer in Love (2015).^[12][13][14]

Yeon for Marie Claire Korea in July 2017

In 2017, he starred in the tvN romance comedy drama Introverted Boss.^[15] He then starred in historical melodrama Queen for Seven Days^[16] as well as legal drama Judge vs. Judge.^[17]

In 2018, Yeon starred in the medical exorcism drama Priest.^[18][19]

In 2019, Yeon was cast in the music romance drama I Wanna Hear Your Song.^[20]

In 2022, Yeon appeared in romantic drama film, Serve the People written and directed by Jang Cheol-soo opposite Ji An. The film based on the eponymous novel by Yan Lianke, drew wide attention and Yeon was praised for his performance as a model soldier.^[21] Later in March 2022, Yeon confirmed that on the 10th of Yeon Woo-jin's official Japanese website, an announcement was posted under the heading 'About the schedule of the 2022 visit to Japan event'. They held fan meetings in Tokyo on August 11 and Osaka on August 13.^[22]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2009	Just Friends?	Kang Min-soo	Short film
2011	We Fly High	Seung-gi		[23]
2014	Tunnel 3D	Dong-joon		[24]
2015	Revivre	Kim Min-soo
2016	Seondal: The Man Who Sells the River	King Hyojong		[25]
2017	The Table	Un-chul		[26]
2018	Unfinished	Choi Moo-hyuk		[27]
	The Princess and the Matchmaker	Yoon Si-kyung		[28]
	Mongolian Love Story	Huyga	Short film	[29]
2019	Shades of the Heart	Chang-seok		[30]
2022	Special Delivery	Du-silk		[31]
	Serve the People	Mu Kwang		[32]

Television / Web series

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2010	Cinderella's Stepsister	Dong-soo		[33]
2010–2011	All My Love For You	Bang Woo-jin
2011–2012	Ojakgyo Family	Hwang Tae-pil
2012	Just an Ordinary Love Story	Han Jae-gwang	Drama Special Series
	Arang and the Magistrate	Choi Joo-wal
2013	When a Man Falls in Love	Lee Jae-hee
2013–2014	My Love from the Star	Lee Han-kyung	Cameo (Episode 18)	[34]
2014	Secret Love	Jang Hyun-jin	Cameo (Episode 1–2)	[35]
	Marriage, Not Dating	Gong Gi-tae
2015	Divorce Lawyer in Love	So Jung-woo
2016	Another Miss Oh	Gong Gi-tae	Cameo (Episode 7)	[36]
2017	Introverted Boss	Eun Hwan-gi
	Queen for Seven Days	Lee Yeok
2017–2018	Judge vs. Judge	Sa Eui-hyeon
2018–2019	Priest	Oh Soo-min
2019	I Wanna Hear Your Song	Jang Yoon
2020	Search	Jo Min-gook
2021	Undercover	Young Han Jeong-hyeon / Lee Suk-kyu		[37]
2022	Thirty-Nine	Kim Seon-woo		[38]
2023	Daily Dose of Sunshine	Dong Go-yun	Netflix drama	[39]
2024	Nothing Uncovered	Kim Tae-hyeon		[40]
	A Virtuous Business	Kim Do-hyun		[41]

Hosting

Year	Title	Notes	Ref.
2021	Gangneung International Film Festival	Opening ceremony	[42]

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.
KBS Drama Awards	2012	Best Actor in a One-Act/Short Drama	Just an Ordinary Love Story	Won	[43]
	2019	Best Couple Award	Yeon Woo-jin (with Kim Se-jeong) I Wanna Hear Your Song	Nominated
Korea Drama Awards	2013	Excellence Award, Actor	When a Man Falls in Love	Nominated
MBC Drama Awards	2012	Best New Actor	Arang and the Magistrate	Nominated
SBS Drama Awards	2015	Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries	Divorce Lawyer in Love	Nominated
	2017	Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Wednesday–Thursday Drama	Judge vs. Judge	Nominated	[44]
		Best Couple Award	Yeon Woo-jin (with Park Eun-bin) Judge vs. Judge	Nominated
Soompi Awards	2018	Actor of the Year	Queen for Seven Days	Nominated
		Best Kiss Award	Yeoo Woo-jin (with Park Min-young) Queen for Seven Days	Nominated	[45][unreliable source?]
			Yeon Woo-jin (with Park Hye-su) Introverted Boss	Nominated

References

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6. Yoon, Hee-seong (March 14, 2012). "Yeon Woo-jin: It felt like a watercolor painting that used a lot of water". 10Asia. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved November 24, 2012.
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19. "OCN's medical exorcism drama is more about love than horror". Yonhap News Agency. November 12, 2018. Archived from the original on November 20, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
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24. "'Tunnel 3D' Yeon Woo Jin tells that he hopes to shoot a romance film with Jung Yoo Mi". Star Naver. July 17, 2014. Archived from the original on June 13, 2023. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
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29. "Ahn So-hee, Yeon Woo-jin for International Women's Day". Kpop Herald. March 13, 2018. Archived from the original on January 16, 2022. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
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31. Jeon Hyung-hwa (November 30, 2021). "박소담 원톱 액션영화 '특송' 2022년 1월 5일 개봉 확정" [Park So-dam's one-top action movie 'Special Song' to be released on January 5, 2022] (in Korean). Star News. Archived from the original on November 30, 2021. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Naver.
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39. Ahn So-yun (July 21, 2022). "[공식] 박보영·연우진·장동윤·이정은, '정신병동에도 아침이 와요' 출연 확정" [[Official] Park Bo-young, Yeon Woo-jin, Jang Dong-yoon, and Lee Jung-eun confirmed to appear in 'Morning Comes to the Mental Hospital'] (in Korean). Sports Chosun. Archived from the original on April 19, 2023. Retrieved July 21, 2022 – via Naver.
40. Lee, Kyung-ho (July 25, 2023). "[단독]김하늘X연우진X장승조, '멱살 한번 잡힙시다'로 뭉쳤다..주연 발탁 [종합]" [[Exclusive] Kim Ha-Neul, Yeon Woo-Jin, and Jang Seung-Jo team up for 'Let's Catch a Smackdown'...they're set to star in the film [Total]] (in Korean). MT Star News. Archived from the original on January 5, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2023 – via Naver.
41. Yun, Sang-geun (July 25, 2024). "김소연X연우진X김성령, JTBC '정숙한 세일즈' 합류[공식]" [Kim So-yeon, Yeon Woo-jin, and Kim Seong-ryeong join JTBC's 'Quiet Sales']. Starnews – via daum.
42. Lee Mi-ji (October 11, 2021). "강릉 출신' 연우진, 제3회 강릉국제영화제 개막식 오프닝 호스트 확정(공식)" ['From Gangneung' Yeon Woo-jin confirmed as the opening host for the opening ceremony of the 3rd Gangneung International Film Festival (official)] (in Korean). Herald POP. Archived from the original on October 11, 2021. Retrieved October 11, 2021 – via Naver.
43. "연우진, KBS연기대상 연작 단마극상 수상 "배우 생활 처음 받는 상"". BNT News (in Korean). January 1, 2013. Archived from the original on November 25, 2018. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
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45. "BEST KISS - 13th Annual #SoompiAwards". Soompi. Archived from the original on December 25, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2019.

External links

• Official website (in Korean)
• Yeon Woo-jin at HanCinema
• Yeon Woo-jin at IMDb