Bae Yong-joon

1. Early life

Bae Yong-joon was born in Mapo District, Seoul. He entered Sungkyunkwan University in 2000 as a Film Studies major.^[2]

2. Career

Bae made his acting debut in 1994 in the Korean drama Salut D'Amour (lit. "Love Greeting").^[3] The rookie actor quickly gained popularity, and a year later he won Best New Actor at the 1995 KBS Drama Awards for Our Sunny Days of Youth. Throughout the 1990s, Bae continued playing leading roles on television, in Papa (1996), First Love (1996) which reached a peak viewership rating of 65.8%, The Barefooted Youth (1998), and the Noh Hee-kyung-penned Did We Really Love? (1999). In Hotelier (2001), he played a mergers and acquisitions specialist about to takeover a hotel, but has a change of heart after falling in love with one of its employees (Bae would later reprise his role in a cameo in the 2007 Japanese remake of Hotelier).^[4]

But it was Yoon Seok-ho's Winter Sonata in 2002 that would transform Bae's career, and consequently the face of Korean dramas abroad. A melodrama about first love, lost memory and unknown family ties, Winter Sonata became an unprecedented success in Asia and more than 20 countries, particularly in Japan. Bae gained a tremendous fan base among Japanese middle-aged women, who dubbed him with the honorific nickname Yon-sama (ヨン様; cf. "Emperor Yon") and brought in US$2.3 billion in tourism and Winter Sonata merchandise sales.^{[5][6][7][8][9]}

In 2003, Bae was cast in his first major big-screen role in Untold Scandal (he had previously appeared in bit parts in two films in the 1990s).^[3] In contrast to his gentle, intellectual image, Bae played a conniving, sexually predatory nobleman in E J-yong's adaptation of Les Liaisons dangereuses set in 18th century Joseon.^[10] His performance received Best New Actor accolades from the Blue Dragon Film Awards and the Baeksang Arts Awards. He next published a photo book The Image: Volume 1 in 2004, which sold 10,000 copies.

Afterwards he worked with director Hur Jin-ho in April Snow (2005), about a stage lighting director who discovers his wife's infidelity when she becomes comatose after a near-fatal car accident with her lover.^[11][12] The film had a weak domestic run but due to Bae's star power, it set a new box office record for a Korean film in Japan with ¥2.72 billion.^{[13][14][15][16]}

Bae then entered the restaurant business, by establishing restaurants and cafes that capitalize on the well-being trend. He owns health food restaurant Gorilla in the Kitchen and high-end traditional Korean restaurant Gosire.^{[17][18][19][20]} As the most famous Korean actor in Japan, he became a proponent for Korean cuisine, and his Gosire lunchboxes (or bento) are sold in Japanese convenience stores and supermarkets.^[21] In 2006, Bae became one of Korea's wealthiest celebrities as the majority shareholder (34.6%) of management agency KeyEast (his stocks are valued at US$128 million as of May 2015).^{[22][23][24][25]} Most of the KeyEast executives, including president Bae Sung-woong, are Bae's former managers and have worked with him for more than ten years.^[17]

Bae made his much-anticipated return to television in 2007 in The Legend (also known as Taewangsasingi, lit. "The Four Guardian Gods of the King"). The big-budget period-fantasy epic was written by Song Ji-na and directed by Kim Jong-hak, and Bae played dual roles: Gwanggaeto, 19th ruler of the Goguryeo kingdom; and Hwanung, believed to be the son of God and founder of Gojoseon.^[4][26][27] He was paid ₩250 million (US$217,000) per episode, making him the highest paid Korean television actor of all time.^[28]

In 2009, Bae and Winter Sonata co-star Choi Ji-woo reunited as voice actors for the animated series Winter Sonata Anime, which aired in Japan.^[29][30][31] He also wrote a book of photo-essays A Journey in Search of Korea's Beauty, which promoted Korean traditional culture such as ceramics, liquor, hanbok, pansori, hanok, Hangul, kimchi-making, temple stays, museums and historical sites.^[32][33] It became a bestseller, and has been translated to Japanese, Taiwanese, Chinese and English.^{[34][35][36][37]} A Journey in Search of Korea's Beauty was later turned into an eight-episode TV documentary that aired on MBC Life in 2011.^[38][39]

In 2009 and 2010, he was the star of D3 Publisher's Nintendo DS edutainment series Bae Yong-joon to Manabu Kankokugo DS ("Learn Korean with Bae Yong-joon"), consisting of three games: Bae Yong-joon to Manabu Kankokugo DS (beginner level), Bae Yong-joon to Manabu Kankokugo DS Date Hen (intermediate level), and Bae Yong-joon to Manabu Kankokugo DS Test Hen (advanced level).^[40][41][42]

Bae and KeyEast entered into a joint partnership with Park Jin-young and JYP Entertainment in 2009, which eventually produced Dream High (2011), a teen musical series that revolved around the lives of students attending a high school for the performing arts.^[43][44][45] As creative producer, Bae supervised the screenplay and production; he also appeared in a four-episode guest arc.^[46][47][48] The collaboration between KeyEast and JYPE, named Holym, lasted until 2013.

3. Personal life

He and actress Park Soo-jin announced their engagement in May 2015 and married on July 27, 2015 at the Sheraton Grande Walkerhill Hotel. The couple only invited friends and relatives to the wedding and forbade attendance of the press media.^[49][50][51]

4. Filmography

4.1. Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1994	The Young Man		Bit part
1997	PpilKu	Shock member
2003	Untold Scandal	Jo-won
2005	April Snow	In-su

4.2. Television series

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1994	Salut D'Amour	Kim Young-min
1995	Our Sunny Days of Youth	Ha Seok-joo
	Drama Game: "Six Steps to Separation"	Kyung-min
	Sea Breeze	Jang Moon-young
1996	Papa	Choi Hyun-joon
	Colors: "Blue"
	First Love	Sung Chan-woo
1997	The Angel Within	Man in café	Cameo
1998	The Barefooted Youth	Han Yo-seok/Jang Yo-seok
1999	Did We Really Love?	Kang Jae-ho
2001	Hotelier	Shin Dong-hyuk/Frank Shin
2002	Winter Sonata	Kang Joon-sang/Lee Min-hyeong
2007	Hotelier	Shin Dong-hyuk	Cameo; Episode 1
	The Legend	Damdeok/Hwan-woong
2009	Winter Sonata Anime	Kang Joon-sang/Lee Min-hyeong	Voice role
2011	Dream High	Jung Ha-myung	Guest role; Episodes 1–4

4.3. Music video appearances

Year	Title	Artist	Ref.
2001	"Goodbye, My Love"	Jo Sung-mo
2002	"Ditto and Sympathy 2"

5. Video games

Year	Title	Platform
January 25, 2007	Pachinko Fuyu no Sonata Pachitte Chonmage Tatsujin 10[52]	PlayStation 2
December 25, 2008	Pachinko Fuyu no Sonata 2 Pachitte Chonmage Tatsujin 15[53]	PlayStation 2
September 19, 2009	Bae Yong-joon to Manabu Kankokugo DS　(Learn Korean with Bae Yong-joon DS)[40][54]	Nintendo DS
December 23, 2009	Fuyu no Sonata DS[55]	Nintendo DS
August 26, 2010	Bae Yong-joon to Manabu Kankokugo DS Date Hen　(Learn Korean with Bae Yong-joon DS Date Version)[41][56]	Nintendo DS
August 26, 2010	Bae Yong-joon to Manabu Kankokugo DS Test Hen　(Learn Korean with Bae Yong-joon DS Test Version)[41][57]	Nintendo DS

6. Bibliography

Year	Title	Ref.
2004	The Image: Volume 1
2005	100 Days of Bae Yong-joon
2007	BYJ Family Book
2009	Journey in Search of Korea's Beauty
2012	Visit to Kyoto

7. Accolades

7.1. 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.
Baeksang Arts Awards	1996	Best New Actor – Television	Our Sunny Days of Youth	Nominated
	1997	Most Popular Actor – Television	First Love	Won
	2002		Winter Sonata	Won
	2004	Best New Actor – Film	Untold Scandal	Won
	2008	Best Actor – Television	The Legend	Nominated
Blue Dragon Film Awards	2003	Best New Actor	Untold Scandal	Won
		Popular Star Award		Won
Grand Bell Awards	2004	Best New Actor	Untold Scandal	Nominated
Japan Men's Fashion Association	2004	Best Dressed of the Year, International category	Bae Yong-joon	Won
KBS Drama Awards	1994	Best New Actor	Salut D'Amour	Nominated
	1995		Our Sunny Days of Youth	Won
		Photogenic Award		Won
	1996	Excellence Award, Actor	First Love	Won
		Popularity Award		Won
	2002	Popularity Award	Winter Sonata	Won
		Top Excellence Award, Actor		Won
Korea Brand Image Awards	2009	Broadcasting Category	Bae Yong-joon	Won
Korea Drama Awards	2008	Hallyu Achievement Award	The Legend	Won
Korean Entertainment 10th Anniversary Awards in Japan	2013	Best Actor	Winter Sonata	Won	[58][59][60]
		Grand Prize (Daesang)		Won
Korean Model Center Best Dressed Awards	1996	Recipient	Bae Yong-joon	Won
Korean Most Popular Entertainment Awards	2002	Best Actor (Television)	Winter Sonata	Won
Kyunghyang Shinmun Readers' Choice: Special Advertisement Awards	1997	Readers' Favorite Advertisement Model	Bae Yong-joon	Won
MBC Drama Awards	1999	Excellence Award, Actor	Did We Really Love?	Nominated
	2007	Best Couple Award	Bae Yong-joon (with Lee Ji-ah) The Legend	Won
		Grand Prize (Daesang)	The Legend	Won
		Popularity Award		Won
		Top Excellence Award, Actor		Nominated

7.2. Honors

Name of country or organization, year given, and name of honor or award

Country or organization	Year	Honor / Award	Ref.
Journalists Association of Korea	2004	Proud Korean Award – Public Art Category
Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism	2008	Hwagam Medal	[61]
Stars of Korean Tourism Awards[1]	2010	Achievement Award

7.3. Listicles

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

Publisher	Year	Listicle	Placement	Ref.
Forbes	2010	Korea Power Celebrity 40	21st	[62]
	2011		33rd	[63]