Kang Ha-neul South Korean Actor Born 1990 in Busan

Early life

Kang Ha-neul was born Kim Ha-neul on 21 February 1990 in Busan, South Korea. Both of his parents had worked in theatre, and his own interest in performing grew during middle school, when he helped with a church stage production. He started high school at an ordinary school, where he joined the acting club, and then transferred to the National High School of Traditional Korean Arts to study music and theatre. He later enrolled at Chung-Ang University in 2008 as a theatre and film major, though he took a long leave from his studies to keep up with his acting work. Jungsan Middle School is also listed among his schools.

Career

Kang started on the musical stage under his birth name. He made his debut in 2006, during his first year of high school, and in 2007 he took a lead role in the KBS drama My Mom! Super Mom! and joined the rural daily drama Hometown Over the Hill. He returned to the stage for productions including Thrill Me and Spring Awakening, in which he performed in all 266 shows of the run. In 2010 he joined an agency founded by the actor Hwang Jung-min. In November of that year he adopted the stage name Kang Ha-neul so that he would not be confused with the actress Kim Ha-neul, and the film Battlefield Heroes, released in January 2011, credited him under the new name.

His first widely seen television role was Lee Hyo-sin in The Heirs (2013). He followed it with Misaeng (2014), in which he played Jang Baek-gi, and with Mourning Grave, his first lead role in a feature film. In 2015 three of his films were released within a few weeks of one another: C'est si bon, Empire of Lust and Twenty. He was nominated for best new actor at the Baeksang Arts Awards, the Blue Dragon Film Awards and the Grand Bell Awards for Twenty, and won best new actor honours at several other ceremonies.

In 2016 he played the poet Yun Dong-ju in Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet and Prince Wang Wook in the historical series Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo. The next year he appeared in New Trial, Forgotten and Midnight Runners, the last of which co-starred Park Seo-joon and became the fourth highest-grossing South Korean film of 2017. He then began his mandatory military service in September 2017 and took part in the army's musical Shinheung Military Academy; he was discharged in May 2019.

He returned to television in 2019 in When the Camellia Blooms, playing a police officer, Hwang Yong-sik, opposite Gong Hyo-jin. Later film and television roles include Waiting for Rain (2021), the adventure film The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure (2022), the series Insider and Curtain Call (both 2022), Love Reset (2023), and Dream (2023). He also played Kang Dae-ho in the second and third seasons of Squid Game. In 2025 his credits include Streaming, Yadang: The Snitch, Wall to Wall and the series Tastefully Yours. His filmography lists fifteen films and seven television series between 2013 and 2025.

Recognition

For When the Camellia Blooms, Kang received the Baeksang Arts Award for Best Actor in television. His other honours include the New Star Award at the 2014 SBS Drama Awards for Angel Eyes, a Popularity Award at the 2015 Cable TV Broadcasting Awards for Misaeng, the Chunsa Film Art Award for best new actor in 2016, and the Top Excellence Actor Award at the 2022 KBS Drama Awards for Curtain Call.

Public roles

In February 2019 Kang was appointed honorary ambassador of the Military Manpower Administration, a role he held through December of that year. He took part in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge in 2014 and, in 2016, joined a charity campaign by Save the Children to knit hats for newborns in countries with harsh winters.

Personal life

Kang grew up in a family with a theatre background: both of his parents had worked as stage actors. In 2005 he and his father appeared together on a family singing contest on KBS television, winning three times in a row.