The Most Dashing Korean Actors As Big Bosses in K-Dramas
Presenting: the handsome company executives and businessmen in K-Dramaland
There’s a new K-drama that is part of our weekly viewing habit: A Business Proposal. An exciting addition to the list of office K-dramas we loved in recent years, this web novel/webtoon-based series premiered just last February 28, and we’re already hooked on the characters of Ahn Hyo-seop’s Kang Tae-mu and Kim Se-jeong’s Shin Ha-ri.
The series takes off from a blind date Shin Ha-ri went to, disguised as her chaebol heiress friend who was supposed to be introduced to a prospective partner through this meeting. It turns out the guy set up for this date is Kang Tae-mu, a chaebol who graduated from Harvard University and is the new CEO of the food company she works for.
On why he decided to star in this K-drama, Ahn Hyo-seop said in an interview, “I wanted to try a romantic comedy. I thought I would be able to approach the viewers with a more humorous side of myself than the roles they’ve seen me in so far.” He previously starred in fantasy series Abyss, medical series Dr. Romantic 2, and period drama Lovers of the Red Sky.
His character in A Business Proposal comes off cold and strict, but there’s no denying Kang Tae-mu is charming, too (oh, and he looks so handsome and dapper in suits!). Delving more into his character, Ahn Hyo-seop shared, “In the drama, Kang Tae Mu is depicted as a character who is envied by everyone. On the outside, he looks flawless and handsome. In order to capture the outer appearance of Kang Tae Mu, who is talented in many ways, I actually got custom suits, especially because he has to be perfectly dressed in suits when working. I also thought about ‘Kang-Tae-Mu-like’ sides, such as his neat hair style, movements, and way of speaking. My priority was to look like Kang Tae Mu more than Ahn Hyo Seop.”
The rich, upright, and sometimes arrogant and snobbish guy character mold is typical in K-Dramas—chaebol heirs and company executives who look dashing in their suits.
In the gallery below, we list down our picks for the most dashing Korean actors, who portrayed the roles of company executives and businessmen in K-Dramas:
Korean Actors As Big Bosses
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Hyun Bin in "Secret Garden"
In the series, he's Kim Joo-won, the CEO of a high-end department store.
Photo Credit: SBS
Photo Credit: SBS
Hyun Bin in "Hyde Jekyll, Me"
Hyun Bin stars as Gu Seo-jin, a third generation chaebol heir who's in charge of the theme park Wonder Land and is next in line to become its CEO.
Photo Credit: SBS
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Photo Credit: SBS
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Hyun Bin in "Memories of the Alhambra"
As Yoo Jin-woo, Hyun Bin's role is the CEO of an investment company that specializes in optical devices.
Photo Credit: tvN
Photo Credit: tvN
Park Seo-joon in "What's Wrong With Secretary Kim"
Park Seo-joon is Lee Young-joon, the vice chairman of a big company.
Photo Credit: tvN via ABS-CBN Entertainment
Photo Credit: tvN
Park Seo-joon in "Itaewon Class"
Park Seo-joon is Park Sae-royi, the owner of Itaewon-based bar-restaurant DanBam.
Photo Credit: K-Star-holic
Photo Credit: JTBC
So Ji-sub in "Master's Sun"
As Joo Joong-won, So Ji-sub's role is the president of a conglomerate called Kingdom that operates a major department store and a hotel.
Photo Credit: SBS
Photo Credit: SBS
Jung Hae-in in "A Piece of Your Mind"
His character here is Moon Ha-won, an AI programmer who also founded the portal site M&H.
Photo Credit: tvN
Photo Credit: tvN
Lee Dong-wook in "Hotel King"
Lee Dong-wook is Cha Jae-wan, the youngest general manager of Hotel Ciel.
Photo Credit: Kingkong by Starship
Photo Credit: MBC
Song Seung-heon in "When a Man Falls in Love"
Song Seung-heon's character is Han Tae-sang, a gangster-turned-successful businessman.
Photo Credit: MBC
Photo Credit: MBC
Park Hyung-sik in "Strong Woman Do Bong Soon"
Ahn Min-yuk, Park Hyung-sik's character, is a chaebol heir and the CEO of a gaming company.
Photo Credit: JTBC
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Photo Credit: JTBC
Lee Je-hoon in 'Tomorrow With You"
In this series, Lee Je-hoon is Yoo So-joon, the CEO of a real estate company.
Photo Credit: tvN
Photo Credit: tvN
Yoon Kyun-sang in "Clean With Passion for Now"
As Jang Seon-kyu, Yoon Kyun-sang's role is the CEO of a cleaning company called "Cleaning Fairies."
Photo Credit: JTBC
Photo Credit: JTBC
Ji Sung in "Kill Me, Heal Me"
Ji Sung's character here suffers from dissociative identity disorder. As Lee Do-hyun, he's a rich businessman who's a third-generation chaebol heir. He has six other identities.
Photo Credit: MBC
Photo Credit: MBC
Lee Jong-suk in "W"
Lee Jong-suk is Kang Chul, the lead character in a popular comic series titled "W." He's a multimillionaire who owns a broadcasting channel and is an Olympic gold medalist in shooting.
Photo Credit: MBC
Photo Credit: MBC
Kim Jae-wook in "Temperature of Love"
In "Temperature of Love," Kim Jae-wook's character is an entertainment agency CEO named Park Jung-woo.
Photo Credit: Management SOOP
Photo Credit: SBS
Yoo Seung-ho in "I'm Not a Robot"
Yoo Seung-ho's character is Kim Min-kyu, the largest shareholder of a huge financial company that produces an android robot.
Photo Credit: MBC
Photo Credit: MBC
Yoon Hyun-min in "To All the Guys Who Loved Me"
In the series, Yoon Hyun-min is Hwang Ji-woo, the CEO of a well-known pharmaceutical company that ventures in the production of webcomics.
Photo Credit: KBS2
Photo Credit: KBS2
Kim Young-kwang in "The Secret Life of My Secretary"
Kim Young-kwang as Do Min-ik is the director of mobile media company T&T, who suffers from prosopagnosia (or face blindness)
Photo Credit: SBS
Photo Credit: SBS
Kim Min-jae in "Dali and Cocky Prince"
Kim Min-jae as Jin Moo-hak is the director of an F&B company that started as a small gamja-tang restaurant which became so successful with more than 400 franchise stores
Photo Credit: KBS2
Photo Credit: KBS2
Who's your favorite Korean actor, who portrayed the role of a chaebol heir, a company executive, or a big boss?
Lead photos from tvN and SBS
