Kang You-seok

Born Kang Shin-cheol^[2] on June 10, 1994, in Gangneung, South Korea, as the second of four siblings, with an older sister, a younger brother, and a younger sister.^[3] His aspiration to become an actor began in high school. His parents initially opposed his ambition, urging him to "just live an ordinary life" and questioning what acting prospects. Despite their opposition, Kang persevered. After a year of preparation, he was admitted to the acting department of Korea National University of Arts as a 14th-batch student. Upon witnessing his son's acceptance to a prestigious acting college, his parents eventually became supportive.^[4][5]

Kang's journey into acting was challenging. He faced rejection at auditions for a year and a half before landing his first role. Despite the setbacks, he remained committed to acting.

He made his debut in the 2018 OCN drama God's Quiz: Reboot. From there, he took on minor and supporting roles in various series like The Hymn of Death (2018), Dr. Romantic 2 (2020), Start-Up (2020), and Beyond Evil (2021). Since his debut, he has actively sought diverse experiences, taking on roles regardless of their size or genre, including a part in a Boys' Love production, Light on Me (2021). This open-minded approach has allowed him to steadily build his career.^[4]

In 2023, his sixth year as an actor, Kang was cast in a leading role in the terrestrial drama Payback: Money and Power. That same year, he appeared in the Netflix dystopian series Black Knight. Kang played Yoon Sa-wol, a refugee desperate to become a "Knight," a delivery driver, which is the only means of survival in the polluted future depicted in the series. His character deeply admires the legendary Knight 5-8, played by Kim Woo-bin, and strives to follow in his footsteps.^[2][6]

In 2025, Kang gained wider recognition with two dramas available for streaming on Netflix: the Netflix original series When Life Gives You Tangerines and drama Resident Playbook.^[7] In When Life Gives You Tangerines, Kang played the supporting role of Yang Eun-myeong, the son of the main characters Ae-sun (Moon So-ri) and Gwan-sik (Park Hae-joon), as well as younger brother of Geum-myeong (IU). His performance received positive reviews, earning him the 10th spot on Good Data Corporation's list of buzzworthy actors in the third week of March.^[8] He is also nominated as Best New Actor at the 2025 Blue Dragon Series Awards.^[9]

For tvN medical drama Resident Playbook, a spin-off of Hospital Playlist that originally planned for a 2024 release, Kang was cast as Um Jae-il, a former K-pop idol and the only male first-year obstetrics and gynecology resident at Jongno Yulje Hospital.^[10] To prepare for the role, Kang learned how to dance. His role placed him as high as fourth on Good Data Corporation's list of most buzzworthy actors.^[11] Despite a delay in airing, the drama's success led to Kang's first reward vacation to Bali with the cast and crew.^[12][13]