Korean name: 배용준
Japanese nickname: Yon-sama (ヨン様)
DOB: August 29, 1972
Birth place: Mapo-gu, Seoul, Korea
Height: 180cm
Blood type: O
Profession: Actor and businessman
Bae made his debut in TV drama “Salut D’Amour” (also known as “Greetings of Love”) in 1994. He starred in a few more dramas before making his breakthrough in 1997 with “First Love”. First Love was a huge success in Korea, but is relatively unknown in other countries.
Bae become internationally famous after starring in popular drama Hotelier in 2001. His popularity was further boost by the success of another popular drama “Winter Sonata” in 2002.
Winter Sonata, co-starring Choi Ji-woo (also co-star in First Love), is very popular across Asia especially in Japan. The drama made both stars iconic figures in Japan… they are still often rated the most popular Koreans in Japan these days.
Bae then surprised many with in 2003 with movie “Untold Scandal”, with some sensitive plots and sex scene (culture breaking in Asian sense). The movie didn’t perform well but Bae’s performance won acclaims and also landed his some best actor awards.
Bae then starred in movie “April Snow” (co-starring Son Ye-jin) in 2005. The movie was not a huge box office success in Korea, but was doing well across Asia (Japan in particular).
Bae Yong Jun latest project is in high budget epic TV drama “The Legend“, which has just started showing in Korea at the time of writing.
