Seo Kang-joon

Lee Seung-hwan (Korean: 이승환; born October 12, 1993), known professionally as Seo Kang-joon (서강준), is a South Korean actor and former singer, who was a member of the group 5urprise. He gained recognition with his role in the television series Cheese in the Trap (2016) and has since starred in Entourage (2016), Are You Human? (2018), The Third Charm (2018), Watcher (2019), When The Weather Is Fine (2020), and Grid (2022).

In this Korean name, the family name is Lee. In the stage name or pen-name, the surname is Seo.

Seo Kang-joon
Seo in January 2022
Born	Lee Seung-hwan (1993-10-12) October 12, 1993 (age 30) Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea
Education	Dong Seoul University (Performing Arts)
Occupations	Actor singer model
Years active	2012–present
Agent	Man of Creation (M.O.C)
Musical career
Instrument	Piano
Labels	Fantagio
Formerly of	5urprise
Korean name
Hangul	서강준
Revised Romanization	Seo Kang-jun
McCune–Reischauer	Sŏ Kang-chun
Birth name
Hangul	이승환
Hanja	李承桓
Revised Romanization	Lee Seung-hwan
McCune–Reischauer	Lee Sŭng-hwan
Signature

Early life and education

Seo Kang-joon was born Lee Seung-hwan in Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea.^[1] In the second year of secondary school, Seo went to study abroad in Malaysia for one year and seven months and returned to Korea in the first year of high school. After his debut, he enrolled at the Faculty of Performing Arts of Dong Seoul College.^[2] Seo worked part-time as a model before his debut. After passing the audition for Actor's League, a program with the aim of searching for new actors organized by Fantagio, Seo underwent training before debuting in the group 5urprise.^[3]

Career

2012–2015: Beginnings

Seo for Marie Claire Korea in 2015

Seo took on bit parts in various television series, before making his acting debut as with a supporting role in SBS' drama The Suspicious Housekeeper.^[4] His first major role was in the 2014 romantic comedy series Cunning Single Lady,^[5] for which he won the Best New Actor award at the 7th Korea Drama Awards.^[6] He has then appeared in television dramas What Happens to My Family? (2014–2015),^[7][8] Splendid Politics (2015),^[9] and To Be Continued (2015),^[10] as well as films My Love, My Bride (2014) and Summer Snow (2015).^[11][12]

In 2014, Seo joined the SBS variety show Roommate as a cast member.^[13][14] He also appeared on Law of the Jungle as a guest.^[15]

2016–present: Rising popularity and leading roles

Seo's breakout role came in 2016 as a talented pianist in the college romance drama Cheese in the Trap.^[16][17][18] The same year, he starred in his first leading role in tvN drama Entourage, the Korean remake of the American television series of the same name.^[19][20]

Seo at The Third Charm press conference in July 2018

In 2018, Seo starred in KBS's science fiction drama Are You Human? where he played double roles as a wealthy heir and robot.^[21][22] The same year, he starred in romance comedy drama The Third Charm.^[23]

In 2019, Seo starred in OCN's thriller drama Watcher as a policeman.^[24] He was cast in the JTBC romance drama When the Weather Is Fine, which aired in the first half of 2020.^[25]

In 2022, Seo starred in Disney+ (Star) thriller drama Grid as an employee of the Grid Bureau.^[26]

Personal life

Military service

On November 8, 2021, it was reported that Seo would enlist in the military on November 23, 2021.^[27] Later the same day, Seo's agency confirmed that he would enlist in the military on November 23, without revealing his location.^[28] Seo received the division commander's commendation for excellent performance in basic military training.^[29] Seo was discharged from military service on May 22, 2023 after serving as an active duty soldier for 18 months.^[30]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2014	My Love, My Bride	Joon-soo		[11]
2015	The Beauty Inside	Kim Woo-jin	Cameo	[31]
	Summer Snow	Han Sang-gyu		[12]
2021	A Year-End Medley	Lee Kang	TVING film	[32]

Television series

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2012	To the Beautiful You	Student	Bit part (ep. 3, 7)
2013	Good Doctor	Disorderly student	Bit part (ep. 12)
	The Suspicious Housekeeper	Choi Soo-hyuk		[4]
	Haneuljae's Murder	Yoon-ha	KBS Drama Special	[33]
2014	Cunning Single Lady	Gook Seung-hyun	Main role	[5]
	What Happens to My Family?	Yoon Eun-ho		[7]
2015	Splendid Politics	Hong Joo-won		[9]
2016	Cheese in the Trap	Baek In-ho		[16]
	Entertainer	Lee Sang-won	Cameo (ep. 7–8)	[34]
	Entourage	Cha Young-bin		[19]
2018	Are You Human?	Nam Shin / Nam Shin III		[22]
	The Third Charm	Oh Joon-young		[23]
2019	Watcher	Kim Young-goon		[24]
2020	When the Weather Is Fine	Im Eun-seob		[25]
2025	Undercover High School	Jung Hae-sung		[35]

Web series

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2013	After School: Lucky or Not	Seo Kang-joon		[36]
2014	The Best Future	Choi Go		[37]
2015	To Be Continued	Ah-rin's older brother	Cameo	[10]
2017	Idol Fever	Do-yun's older brother		[38]
2021	Love Refresh	Seo Nam-joo		[39]
2022	Grid	Kim Sae-ha / Kwon Sae-ha / younger Soo-geun		[26]

Television shows

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2014–2015	Roommate	Cast member	Seasons 1–2	[13]
2016	Law of the Jungle in Tonga			[15]

Discography

See also: 5urprise § Discography

Year	Song Title	Album	Notes	Ref.
2018	"You Are My Love"	Are You Human? OST		[40]

Awards and nominations

Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, work(s) nominated / nominee(s) of the award, and the result of the nomination

Award ceremony	Year	Category	Work(s) / Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
Asia Artist Awards	2016	Best Entertainer Award, Actor	Seo Kang-joon	Won	[41]
	2017	Best Icon Award, Actor		Won	[42]
Korea Drama Awards	2014	Best New Actor	Cunning Single Lady	Won	[6]
	2015	Excellence Award, Actor	Splendid Politics	Nominated
		Hot Star Award		Won	[43]
	2018	Excellence Award, Actor	Are You Human?	Nominated	[44]
KBS Drama Awards	2014	Best New Actor	What Happens to My Family?	Nominated
	2018	Excellence Award, Actor in a Mid-length Drama	Are You Human?	Won	[45]
		Best Couple	Seo Kang-joon (with Gong Seung-yeon) Are You Human?	Won
MBC Drama Awards	2014	Best New Actor	Cunning Single Lady	Nominated
SBS Entertainment Awards	2014	Best Male Newcomer	Roommate	Nominated
Seoul International Youth Film Festival	2014	Best New Actor	Cunning Single Lady	Nominated
tvN10 Awards	2016	Made in tvN, Actor in Drama	Cheese in the Trap	Nominated

References

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External links

• Seo Kang-joon at HanCinema
• Seo Kang-joon at IMDb 

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