Kang Dong-won (Kang Dong-won), born on January 18, 1981, in Busan (Pusan), is a South Korean actor. He grew up in Changwon, in South Gyeongsang Province, and studied mechanical engineering at Hanyang University before pursuing a career in the arts.
He made his debut as a television actor in 2003with Country Princess, in which he plays Min Ji-hoon, and then 1% of Anything, playing the role of Lee Jae-in. This role quickly brought him his first recognition, as he won the Best New Actor award at the MBC Drama Awards. In 2004, he again played the lead role of Cha Kang-jae in Magic.
Kang Dong-won then largely turned his back on TV series to focus on movies, which became the centerpiece of his career. Beginning in 2004, he appeared in Too Beautiful to Lie then Temptation of Wolves, which earned him several awards for best young actor and popularity. He went on to star in Duelist in 2005, Maundy Thursday in 2006 and M in 2007.
In 2009, he played the title character in Woochi, the Modern-Day Magician. The following year, he played Song Ji-won in The Secret Reunion, a performance that earned him the Best Actor Award from the Korean Association of Film Critics. He also appeared in 2010 in the fantasy thriller Haunters.
After a few years away from the big screen, he returned to the movies in 2014 with Kundo: Age of the Rampant and My Brilliant Life. He then went on to direct several major productions: The Priests (2015), A Violent Prosecutor, Vanishing Time and Master's Degree (2016), then 1987: When the Day Comes (2017). In 2018, he played the lead roles in Golden Slumber and Illang: The Wolf Brigade.
Visit 2020, he plays Jeong-seok in Peninsula, a sequel set in the universe of Last Train to Busan. In 2022, he played Dong-soo in The Lucky Stars (Broker), directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda.
His career remained particularly active throughout the 2020s. In 2023, he played the role of Dr. Cheon in Dr. Cheon and the Lost Talisman. In 2024, he starred in The Plot, playing the role of Yeong-il, as well as Uprising (Uprising), in which he plays Cheon-yeong.
In 2025, he briefly returns to the world of The Priests by appearing as the Deacon Choi in Dark Nuns. That same year marked, above all, his return to television after more than twenty years away with Tempest, a nine-episode series in which he plays Baek San-ho. According to the information provided, this is his first role in a series since Magic in 2004.
Visit 2026, he plays the lead role in Hwang Hyeon-woo in Wild Sing. Another television project, Soul, is scheduled for 2027, also starring Kang Dong-won in a leading role.
His career path is thus marked by a rather distinct feature: after three dramas between 2003 and 2004, Kang Dong-won devoted himself almost entirely to film for two decades before returning to television series with Tempest in 2025. Among his best-known films are Duelist, Woochi, The Secret Reunion, The Priests, Master's Degree, 1987: When the Day Comes, Peninsula, Broker, Dr. Cheon and the Lost Talisman and Uprising.
