8 K-drama stars who went from second leads to main leads

Before Byeon Woo-seok, there was Kim Seon-ho and his equally meteoric rise to stardom. His breakout came in the 2020 hit Start-Up, where he played Han Ji-pyeong, a sharp-tongued angel investor with a soft heart and a tragic past. Dubbed “Good Boy” in the drama, Ji-pyeong quickly became Start-Up’s most talked-about second lead, inspiring a heated “Team Ji-pyeong” versus “Team Do-san” fandom war and one of K-drama’s most intense cases of second lead syndrome.

Start-Up catapulted him into the mainstream, paving the way for his transition from fan-favourite second lead to major romantic lead in Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha. Starring as the endlessly capable handyman Hong Du-sik, opposite Hallyu A-lister Shin Min-a, the rom-com established him as a premier leading man. His momentum, however, was interrupted in 2021 following a personal controversy that led him to step back from the spotlight.

He returned to the screen in 2025, first in a small but significant role as IU’s love interest in Netflix’s When Life Gives You Tangerines, before taking centre stage early this year with Go Youn-jung in Netflix’s Can This Love Be Translated? Looking forward, he will reunite with his Start-Up co-star Bae Suzy in Disney+’s gothic mystery-fantasy Portraits of Delusion as Yoon I-ho.

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Jung Hae-in already had a string of K-dramas behind him, but it was a brief cameo in Goblin—playing Choi Tae-hee, Ji Eun-tak’s first love—that first turned heads. Soon after, he landed the role of Han Woo-tak, a police officer and the second male lead in While You Were Sleeping. Initially drawn into the drama’s central love triangle, Woo-tak eventually becomes a trusted ally to Suzy’s Nam Hong-joo and Lee Jong-suk’s Jung Jae-chan as they work together to prevent their tragic premonitions from coming true.

A year later, Jung Hae-in made the leap from second lead to romantic leading man in Something in the Rain. In the beloved age-gap romance, he stars as Seo Jun-hui, a younger man who falls for his older sister’s best friend, Yoon Jin-ah, played by Hallyu icon Son Ye-jin. Something in the Rain became a major turning point in his career, with audiences praising the pair’s chemistry and Jung Hae-in’s romantic-lead appeal. He has continued to build on that streak—taking on leading roles in one K-drama after another, including One Spring Night, D.P. and Snowdrop.

Lately, Jung Hae-in has made a return to rom-coms, delighting fans in Love Next Door, the hit K-drama that showcased his easy rapport with Jung So-min, and Netflix’s more recent Our Sticky Love, reminding viewers exactly why he has become a reliable romantic leading man.

Like Kim Seon-ho, Hwang In-youp melted hearts as a fan-favourite second lead in True Beauty. As Han Seo-jun, the rebellious “bad boy” with a softer side, he was always fighting an uphill battle against Cha Eun-woo’s seemingly perfect Lee Su-ho for Moon Ga-young’s Lim Ju-kyung. While there was little doubt about where the love triangle would ultimately land, Hwang’s portrayal of Seo-jun’s unrequited feelings and natural chemistry with Moon Ga-young had viewers rooting for him.

He may not have won the girl, but he won the hearts of fans everywhere, and it wasn’t long before he lived up to his leading-man potential. Family by Choice, a 2024 K-drama remake of the popular Chinese drama Go Ahead, marked his first major romantic leading role. He plays Kim San-ha, a medical student who grows up alongside Yoon Ju-won (Jung Chae-yeon) and is treated like family by her father. Their bond gradually develops into something more, allowing Hwang In-youp to move from the heartbroken second lead in True Beauty to the romantic lead at the centre of his own love story.

Hwang In-youp continued his momentum as leading man to Lee Hye-ri in the rom-com Dream to You, playing Woo Soo-bin, an acclaimed director who dreams of reuniting with his high school first love. He will next appear in a cameo role in Human X Gumiho, the fantasy rom-com starring Ji Chang-wook and Jun Ji-hyun, set to premiere in 2027.

It takes considerable charisma to steal scenes from the magnetic pairing of Lee Hye-ri and Jang Ki-yong in My Roommate Is a Gumiho, yet Bae In-hyuk did exactly that as Gye Seon-woo, the second lead caught in the drama’s love triangle. As the campus playboy who has a change of heart after falling hard for Lee Hye-ri’s Lee Dam, Bae In-hyuk brought surprising vulnerability and growth to a character who could easily have remained a one-note rival.

In 2023, Bae In-hyuk went from sympathetic second lead to romantic main lead in The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract. He stars as Kang Tae-ha, a standoffish chaebol heir who enters into a contract marriage with Lee Se-young’s time-travelling Park Yeon-woo to comply with his grandfather’s wishes. For the role, the newly minted leading man earned an MBC Excellent Actor Award—proof he could hold his own at the centre of a K-drama.

Bae In-hyuk carried that success into 2026’s Our Universe, playing Sun Tae-hyung, a gruff photographer’s assistant who unexpectedly finds himself co-parenting his baby nephew with his sister-in-law, Roh Jeong-eui’s Woo Hyun-jin. His on-screen and off-screen bond with Park Yoo-ho, the toddler who plays baby Woo-ju, had audiences charmed from the start, while his slow-burn romance with Hyun-jin showed just how far the former second lead had come—now a leading man in his own right.

From supporting roles in K-dramas such as Romance Is a Bonus Book and Nokdu Flower, Park Gyu-young took on second-lead duties in It’s Okay to Not Be Okay. She plays Nam Ju-ri, a psychiatric nurse nursing a quiet, unrequited crush on Kim Soo-hyun’s Moon Gang-tae, all while warily eyeing his growing closeness with Seo Yea-ji’s Go Mun-yeong. Her portrayal of a woman struggling to contain her intrusive thoughts was hilarious and relatable, endearing her to fans of the K-drama.

She then starred as part of the ensemble cast of Netflix’s Sweet Home, the hit Korean series that spawned two more seasons, before finally landing the main female lead role in Dali and the Cocky Prince, opposite Kim Min-jae. It was her next role, however, as the calculating and pragmatic Seo A-ri in Netflix’s Celebrity, that she fully came into her own as a leading lady. Seo A-ri may be a morally grey anti-heroine, but audiences couldn’t look away as Park Gyu-young commanded the screen, proving she had the depth and charisma to carry a K-drama as its main lead.

Park Gyu-young later joined the new cast of characters in the second and third seasons of Netflix’s global hit Squid Game. She plays Kang No-eul, a North Korean defector who works as a guard at the deadly competition—a role that added emotional depth to the series. Her next main lead role will be in the upcoming Netflix original K-drama Fall in! Love, as Park Hyung-sik’s romantic counterpart.

In Netflix’s teen romance drama Love Alarm, Go Min-si starred in a supporting role as Park Gul-mi, the selfish and status-obsessed cousin of Kim So-hyun’s Kim Jo-jo. Jealous and spiteful, Gul-mi is the archetypal mean girl fans loved to hate. Her next role as Lee Eun-yu, the sarcastic but vulnerable younger sister of Lee Do-hyun’s Lee Eun-hyeok in Sweet Home, has softer edges but retains the feisty, sharp-tongued energy that made her Love Alarm character so memorable.

In her first leading role as Kim Myung-hee in Youth of May—which reunited her with Sweet Home’s Lee Do-hyun, this time as his love interest rather than his sister—she stunned fans with her transformation into a compassionate heroine. Set against the violent backdrop of the Gwangju Uprising, the K-drama allowed Go Min-si to show the vulnerability and quiet strength of a heroine, marking a turning point that proved her capable of anchoring a K-drama on emotional depth alone.

Netflix’s The Frog, where she starred as the main lead and antagonist, confirmed her range. Unlike Youth of May’s compassionate Myung-hee, The Frog’s Yoo Seong-a is an unhinged, remorseless killer who wreaks havoc at a secluded vacation home. The role earned Go Min-si widespread critical acclaim and showcased her ability to carry a K-drama as its main lead, whether playing a selfless heroine or a chilling villain.

Mainstream audiences first took notice of Roh Jeong-eui as Hong Shi-a, the rebellious teen daughter in the fantasy rom-com 18 Again. When Shi-a’s estranged father, Hong Dae-young (Yoon Sang-hyun), magically transforms into his 18-year-old self (Lee Do-hyun), dad and daughter finally begin to see things eye-to-eye.

Her next K-drama, Our Beloved Summer, gave Roh a bigger role, albeit as the second female lead. She played K-pop idol NJ, who becomes a rival to Kook Yeon-su (Kim Da-mi) for Choi Woong’s (Choi Woo-shik) heart. It was her following role, in Netflix’s teen mystery thriller Hierarchy, that finally put her in the spotlight as a leading lady. Playing Jung Jae-i, the wealthy queen of Jooshin High School, Roh Jeong-eui finds herself torn between Lee Chae-min’s Kang Ha and her on-and-off boyfriend, Kim Jae-won’s Kim Ri-an.

Since then, Roh has kept building her résumé as a leading actress—first in The Witch as Park Mi-jeong, then in Our Universe as Woo Hyun-jin, who unexpectedly becomes guardian to her nephew alongside brother-in-law Sun Tae-hyung (Bae In-hyuk). Their opposites-attract dynamic blossoms into romance, further showcasing her ease across genres.

From second lead syndrome favourites to established leading men and women, these K-drama stars prove that a memorable supporting role can be the start of something much bigger. Whether through a breakout romance, a complex protagonist or an unexpected villainous turn, Byeon Woo-seok, Kim Seon-ho, Jung Hae-in, Hwang In-youp, Bae In-hyuk, Park Gyu-young, Go Min-si and Roh Jeong-eui have each carved out their own path to leading roles—and their next K-dramas may be their biggest ones yet.

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