Kang Tae-oh

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

Kim Yoon-hwan (Korean: 김윤환; born June 20, 1994), known professionally as Kang Tae-oh (Korean: 강태오) is a South Korean actor and singer. He was a member of the actor group 5urprise. He rose to international popularity for his starring role in the television series Extraordinary Attorney Woo (2022).

Kang Tae-oh
Kang Tae-oh in April 2021
Born	Kim Yoon-hwan (1994-06-20) June 20, 1994 (age 31) Incheon, South Korea
Education	Konkuk University
Occupations	Actor singer
Years active	2013–present
Agent	Man of Creation (M.O.C)
Korean name
Hangul	김윤환
Hanja	金潤煥
RR	Gim Yunhwan
MR	Kim Yunhwan
Stage name
Hangul	강태오
RR	Gang Taeo
MR	Kang T'aeo

Career

In 2013, Kang made his acting debut in the web series After School: Lucky or Not together with the members of 5urprise – actor group formed by talent agency Fantagio. He then played a supporting role in MBC weekend drama Flower of Queen in 2015.^[1]

He also made his name in Vietnam by playing the male lead role Lee Jun-su in the Korean-Vietnamese joint drama Forever Young.^[2]

In 2019, Kang joined the KBS historical drama The Tale of Nokdu, which earned him critical acclaim for acting in historical dramas; in the same year, he made a special appearance in the MBC drama Love with Flaws playing the role of Oh Yeon-seo's ex-boyfriend. He later appeared in the Netflix original series My First First Love.^[3]

In 2020, Kang appeared in the JTBC drama Run On where he played an art student alongside Choi Soo-young.^[4] Later that same year, his contract with Fantagio expired and he moved to Man of Creation (M.O.C), an agency established by his former agency's managers.^[5]

In 2021, Kang appeared in the drama Doom at Your Service and the one-act drama Drama Special – The Effect of One Night on Farewell.^[6]

In 2022, Kang made a special appearance in the drama Thirty-Nine as a friend of Lee Tae-hwan's character.^[7] Later in the same year, he played one of the main characters in the drama Extraordinary Attorney Woo, which was his last drama appearance before enlisting for his military service in September 2022.^[8] He ranked first for five consecutive weeks according to the TV topic analysis company Good Data Corporation in TV-OTT Drama Performer Buzzworthiness.^[9]

Personal life

Military enlistment

On August 31, 2022, Kang announced at a fan meeting that he would enlist for his mandatory military service on September 20, 2022.^[10] He conducted basic military training at the 37th Infantry Division Jeungpyeong County, North Chungcheong Province^[11] and then served as an assistant training instructor with the same division.^[12][13] Kang was discharged on March 19, 2024, after serving as an active duty soldier for 18 months.^[14]

Philanthropy

On August 10, 2022, Kang donated ₩20 million to help those affected by the 2022 South Korean floods through the Hope Bridge Korea Disaster Relief Association.^[15]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2014	Slow Video	Successor	Cameo	[16][unreliable source?]
2018	Feng Shui	Won-kyung		[17]
2023	Don't Buy the Seller	Detective Na	Cameo	[18][19]

Television series

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2013	Drama Festival – Save Wang Jo-hyeon	Nam Nam-cheol	one act-drama
2013–2014	Miss Korea	Ma Ae-ri's son		[20]
2014	Forever Young	Lee Jun-su		[21]
2015	Flower of Queen	Heo Doug-gu		[22]
	Second 20s	young Woo-chul
	The Dearest Lady	Choi Young-kwang		[23]
2016	Forever Young 2	Lee Jun-su / Jace		[21]
2017	You Are Too Much	Lee Kyung-soo		[24]
2018	Short	Kang Ho-young		[25]
	Evergreen	Kim Jin-woo		[26][27]
2019	The Tale of Nokdu	Cha Yul-mu / Prince Neungyang		[28]
	Love with Flaws	Jung Tae-oh	Cameo (Episode 1,6)	[29]
2020–2021	Run On	Lee Young-hwa		[30]
2021	Doom at Your Service	Lee Hyun-kyu		[31]
	KBS Drama Special – A Moment of Romance	Cha Min-jae	one-act drama	[32]
2022	Thirty-Nine	Park Hyun-joon's friend	Cameo (episode 11)	[33]
	Extraordinary Attorney Woo	Lee Jun-ho		[34]
2025	The Potato Lab	So Baek-ho		[35]

Web series

Year	Title	Role	Ref.
2013	After School: Lucky or Not	Kang Tae-oh
2015	To Be Continued	Street Punk	[36]
2019	My First First Love	Choi Hoon	[37]

Television shows

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2017	Law of the Jungle	Cast member	Episode 252–255	[38]

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.
APAN Star Awards	2022	Best Couple	Kang Tae-oh (with Park Eun-bin) Extraordinary Attorney Woo	Nominated	[39]
Asia Artist Awards	2017	Rising Star Award	You Are Too Much	Won	[40]
KBS Drama Awards	2019	Best New Actor	The Tale of Nokdu	Won	[41]
		Netizen Award		Nominated
		Best Couple	Kang Tae-oh (with Jang Dong-yoon) The Tale of Nokdu	Nominated
	2021	Best Actor in Drama Special/TV Cinema	Drama Special – A Moment of Romance	Nominated	[42]
MBC Drama Awards	2017	Excellence Award, Actor in a Weekend Drama	You Are Too Much	Nominated	[43]
VTV Awards	2015	Impressive Actor	Forever Young	Won	[44]
	2017	Impressive Actor	Forever Young 2	Nominated	[45]

State honors

Name of country, year given, and name of honor

Country	Organization	Year	Honor Or Award	Ref.
South Korea	Newsis K-Expo Cultural Awards[note 1]	2022	Seoul Metropolitan Council Chairman's Award	[47]

Listicles

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

Publisher	Year	Listicle	Rank	Ref.
Forbes	2023	Korea Power Celebrity	40th	[48]

Notes

1. Established in 2019 and co-sponsored by Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Korea Creative Content Agency, Seoul Metropolitan Council and the Seoul Tourism Organization, it awards cultural icons, businesses, and individuals who have contributed greatly to Hallyu, the Korean wave.^[46]