11 OG K-drama stars from the first Hallyu wave and where they are now

Raised in poverty, Choi Jin-sil started in TV commercials and clawed her way to the top with pure grit and a naturalistic acting style rarely seen at the time.

Her initial breakthrough came in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with films like My Love, My Bride (1990) and dramas like Jealousy (1992). She then solidified her legacy with shows like My Rosy Life (2005) and The Last Scandal (2008). Her choice of characters who are flawed, fierce and deeply human has made her the voice of the Korean everywoman. She redefined what a female lead could look like: less polished, more real. At one point, she was Korea’s most trusted and bankable endorser.

Unfortunately, she died in 2008. Korea entered a period of national mourning. Her influence, however, remains untouchable. Many contemporary actresses still cite her as an inspiration.

Starting in the 1980s as a fresh-faced beauty, Kim Hee-ae evolved into one of Korea’s most formidable dramatic actresses by taking on morally complicated roles.

She first earned acclaim in dramas, such as Beyond the Mountains (1991) and Sons and Daughters (1992). These roles gave her critical praise and won her MBC Drama Awards and Baeksang Arts Awards. Even early in her career, she was unafraid of taking bold roles, erasing her saintly image with My Husband’s Woman (2007). 

Kim is notorious for boundary-pushing roles, portraying taboo relationships and owning middle-aged sexuality with grace and nuance. Of course, these days, people know her for Secret Affair (2014) and the record-shattering The World of the Married (2020).

Born in Taiwan to a Korean Chinese family, Ha Hee-ra began her acting career in the 1980s, often relegated to typecast roles before carving out a niche in emotionally resonant maternal characters. Her breakthrough came with What Women Want (1990), followed by a string of popular family dramas that cemented her as one of Korea’s most dependable and beloved actresses.

As one-half of the country’s golden couple (alongside husband and fellow actor Choi Soo-jong), Ha became a symbol of grounded celebrity marriage, admired as much for her personal life as her on-screen presence. Today, while she occasionally returns to television, her influence lies more in mentorship and philanthropy, particularly in advocating for multicultural youth in Korea, a cause close to her heritage.

Long before Instagram thirst traps and fast-tracked fame, there was Won Bin, a boy from rural Jeongseon County with zero showbiz connections who clawed his way up from part-time jobs to become South Korea’s most elusive heartthrob and one of the most popular OG K-drama stars.

With stoic good looks and a quiet intensity, he first captivated Asia as the brooding second lead in Autumn in My Heart (2000), a drama that helped ignite the Hallyu Wave. A decade later, The Man From Nowhere (2010) revealed his full dramatic range—sharp, tragic, lethal—cementing him as a cinematic force. But then, like a myth that he has become, he disappeared.

Now married to actress Lee Na-young, Won Bin hasn’t appeared in a film or drama since 2010. However, he remains omnipresent in luxury ad campaigns and wistful fan recollections. With every year he stays away, his legend only deepens. He is the male Garbo of Korean entertainment, hauntingly beautiful, maddeningly unavailable, but utterly unforgettable.

Song Hye-kyo is one of the OG K-drama stars whose career still shines. Before she was Korea’s reigning queen of quiet heartbreak, Song won a teenage modelling contest at 14 that launched her into the limelight. With her cool elegance and controlled emotional depth, she quickly became a mainstay of early Hallyu dramas, immortalised through roles in Autumn in My Heart (2000) and Full House (2004).

She’s never lacked work, but it was Descendants of the Sun (2016), opposite her eventual ex-husband Song Joong-ki, that elevated her into full-blown global superstardom. For over two decades, she has defined the aesthetics of Korean femininity: luxury-clad, emotionally complex and always in command. And just when the world thought it had her pegged, she shattered expectations with The Glory (2022 to 2023), a gritty, Netflix-powered revenge drama that earned her critical raves and renewed cultural dominance. In an industry obsessed with youth and novelty, Song Hye-kyo endures, not as a relic of the past, but as the woman who reinvented herself right on cue.

Before K-pop was a global export and idols were cast as drama leads by default, there was Rain (also known as Jung Ji-hoon). He emerged from poverty and anonymity to become one of Korea’s first true crossover stars.

Trained under the notoriously rigorous eye of JYP, Rain debuted as a solo singer with irresistible charisma. However, his turn as an arrogant yet lovable actor in Full House (2004) launched him into pan-Asian superstardom. With chart-topping albums and a daring leap into Hollywood via Speed Racer (2008) and Ninja Assassin (2009), Rain became the blueprint: a male idol who could sing, dance, act and seduce audiences from Seoul to Los Angeles.

He wasn’t just a heartthrob; he was a phenomenon—living proof that the K-pop engine could power K-drama gold. These days, Rain wears many hats: agency CEO, mentor to the next idol generation and ageless performer who still commands the stage with those signature body rolls. His abs are eternal. So is his legacy as one of the truest OG K-drama stars.

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With flawless features and an IQ to match, Kim Tae-hee wasn’t just another pretty face—she was the embodiment of aspirational Korean womanhood in the early aughts. A top student at Seoul National University, she entered showbiz almost by accident: spotted in the subway and swept into modelling before proving her range in dramas like Stairway to Heaven (2003) and Love Story in Harvard (2004). But it was My Princess (2011) and Yong-pal (2015) that turned her into a household name, where her mix of grace and grit elevated roles that could have been stock into something magnetic.

While critics initially questioned whether her beauty overshadowed her acting chops, her longevity proved otherwise. Offscreen, her marriage to Rain formed a Korean power couple for the ages: tabloid fodder, yes, but also a rare image of grounded domestic glamour. Now a mother of two and selective with roles, Kim Tae-hee remains the kind of star who doesn’t chase the spotlight. Rather, she simply brings elegance wherever it lands.

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If anyone can claim dominion over the tear-soaked golden age of Korean dramas, it’s Choi Ji-woo.

Tall, willowy and luminous, Choi was the face of early Hallyu melodrama, forever etched in the minds of millions as the tragic heroine of Winter Sonata (2002). That drama alone helped launch Korean entertainment into Japan and beyond, earning her a massive following and the affectionate nickname “Ji-woo Hime” (Princess Ji-woo) overseas. But before the snowflakes and violins, Choi endured years of underwhelming roles and stiff critiques. It was her persistence and an uncanny ability to make every sob feel like an aria that made her indispensable to the genre.

Later roles in Stairway to Heaven (2003) and comedies revealed a range beneath the tragedy. These days, Choi lives largely out of the public eye, enjoying a quiet married life, though her rare appearances (including her cameo in Crash Landing on You) still cause a stir. In the Hallyu annals, she remains the reigning queen of sorrow.

In an era of high-gloss starlets and melodramatic leads, Park Chae-rim was the approachable heroine audiences didn’t just admire; they wanted to be friends with her. With her signature bob haircut and unpretentious charm, she rose to fame in All About Eve (2000), playing a broadcasting intern caught between ambition and innocence.

Park’s likability transcended borders, especially in China, where she became one of the first Korean actresses to star in Mandarin-language dramas. Park was one of Hallyu’s early cultural ambassadors, gracefully balancing cross-cultural projects long before the term “pan-Asian” was trendy. Though she never chased the spotlight with flash or scandal, she quietly built a career anchored on relatability and softness, a rare quality in an industry fuelled by extremes. Now mostly out of the acting scene, she remains a symbol of the early 2000s K-drama wave: low-key, lovable and quietly influential.

Long before Netflix rom-coms made K-dramas a global comfort watch, Kim Jung-eun was already perfecting the genre with wit, warmth and emotional finesse. A theatre major with a flair for timing, she carved her space in the late ’90s with solid supporting roles, but it was Lovers in Paris (2004) that cemented her place in the Hallyu pantheon. As the plucky, heart-on-her-sleeve heroine navigating love and class divides, she captured not just ratings (with finale viewership over 50 per cent) but a generation’s collective heart.

Kim’s characters were often messy, lovable and impossible to root against, a refreshing foil to the overly tragic leads of the time. Her follow-ups in Lovers (2006) and I Am Legend (2010) showed range beyond the genre, earning her both awards and longevity. These days, she’s a respected veteran, occasionally hosting and mentoring. She also played the superpowered mum in Strong Girl Nam-soon (2023), perhaps as a metaphor for her influence as one of the most powerful OG K-drama stars.

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