The year he turned 19, he was chosen with Lee Hyo-jeong for the role of Mong-ryong in Im Kwon-taek’s film Chunhyang. There were 2,037 written applications.
The breakthrough yearThe year he turned 20, Chunhyang opened, and he attended the official screening in the Cannes main competition in hanbok. Sports Seoul writes that he first showed his face to the public in this film. In December he was cast as King Gojong in the musical The Last Empress.
The year he turned 21, he played Young-min in the film Wanee & Junah. In 2002 he appeared in the encore run of the musical The Sorrows of Young Werther, and in May the film Who Are U? opened. In 2003 he played Joon-ha in the film The Classic. He says about 20 screenplays came in after its success. In May 2004 the film Low Life opened, and in July he played Jekyll and Hyde in the Korean premiere of the musical Jekyll & Hyde. In October he won best actor at the Korea Musical Awards.
The year he turned 25, the film Marathon opened, and in May he won best actor in film at the Baeksang Arts Awards. Yonhap News Agency cited the combined hits of Marathon and Jekyll & Hyde in its 2005 feature on people in the news. In 2006 he played Go-ni in the film Tazza: The High Rollers, which passed 5.2 million admissions.
The year he turned 28, he enlisted in the army on active duty in December. In 2009 the film The Sword with No Name opened while he was in service. In October 2010 he completed one year and 10 months of service and was discharged.
The year he turned 32, he played Baek Gwang-hyun in MBC’s The King’s Doctor. In 2014 he returned to drama with SBS’s God’s Gift: 14 Days. In 2015 he played the prosecutor Woo Jang-hoon in the film Inside Men. In 2016 he was cast as Sweeney Todd in the musical Sweeney Todd.
The year he turned 37, he played the prosecutor Hwang Si-mok in tvN’s Stranger. In 2018 he won best actor in television at the Baeksang Arts Awards for the series, and in September the film Feng Shui opened. In 2020 he began a new season, three years later, with Stranger 2. In 2021 he appeared in JTBC’s Sisyphus: The Myth.
The year he turned 42, he was cast in December as the Phantom in the Korean-language production of the musical The Phantom of the Opera. In 2023 he played the lawyer Shin Sung-han in JTBC’s Divorce Attorney Shin. In 2024 he took the stage in his first play, Hamlet, 24 years after his debut. In 2025 he won best actor in theater at the Golden Ticket Awards for the play. In 2026 he played the king in Netflix’s The East Palace.
Cho Seung-woo (born Mar 28, 1980) was chosen for the role of Mong-ryong in the film Chunhyang on Mar 5, 1999, the year he turned 19, and became known the year he turned 20, when the film opened in 2000. In 2004, the year he turned 24, he appeared in the Korean premiere of the musical Jekyll & Hyde.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.
Taehung Pictures’ open call for newcomers drew 2,037 written applications, and he was chosen with Lee Hyo-jeong in the final round. He was then in his second year of theater and film at Dankook University.
Source 01 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Casting call for Chunhyang lead · opens in a new tabPlayed Mong-ryong in Im Kwon-taek’s film. Sports Seoul writes that he first showed his face to the public in this film.
Attended the screening of Chunhyang, the first Korean film in the main competition at Cannes, in hanbok with Lee Hyo-jeong.
Source 02 · The Dong-A Ilbo (Korean) · Standing ovation for Chunhyang at Cannes · opens in a new tabSource 03 · Kukmin Ilbo (Korean) · Cannes welcomes Chunhyang and director Im Kwon-taek · opens in a new tabSource 06 · Xports News (Korean) · Cho Seung-woo, a small giant · opens in a new tabWas cast as King Gojong in The Last Empress, which ran from Dec. 29.
Source 07 · The Dong-A Ilbo (Korean) · Musical The Last Empress casts King Gojong · opens in a new tabPlayed Young-min, the half brother and first love of Wanee, played by Kim Hee-sun.
Source 08 · The Dong-A Ilbo (Korean) · Review of Wanee & Junah · opens in a new tabPlayed Werther in the encore run at the Sejong Center convention center. The run continued through Mar. 24.
Source 09 · The Korea Economic Daily (Korean) · The love of young Werther · opens in a new tab The start date was not confirmed. Based on an article dated Feb. 14.Co-led the film with Lee Na-young, playing the game designer Hyung-tae.
Source 10 · The Dong-A Ilbo (Korean) · Review of Who Are U? · opens in a new tabSource 12 · The Dong-A Ilbo (Korean) · Cho Seung-woo, lead of Low Life · opens in a new tabAppeared with Son Ye-jin and Jo In-sung, playing Joon-ha. He says about 20 screenplays came in after the film’s success.
Source 11 · Money Today (Korean) · The Classic opens · opens in a new tabSource 12 · The Dong-A Ilbo (Korean) · Cho Seung-woo, lead of Low Life · opens in a new tabIm Kwon-taek’s 99th film. Sports Chosun reports that he tried a change of image in it.
Source 13 · Sports Chosun (Korean) · Low Life and a change of image · opens in a new tabSource 05 · Herald Business (Korean) · Cho Seung-woo’s growing hopes of world stardom · opens in a new tabPlayed Jekyll and Hyde at the COEX Auditorium.
Source 14 · Segye Ilbo (Korean) · Review of musical Jekyll & Hyde · opens in a new tabSource 15 · OhmyNews (Korean) · The 10th Korea Musical Awards · opens in a new tab The opening date follows Segye Ilbo, which gives July 24. The Korea Economic Daily says it opened July 25.Won best actor for Jekyll & Hyde at the ceremony at KBS Hall in Yeouido.
Source 15 · OhmyNews (Korean) · The 10th Korea Musical Awards · opens in a new tabPlayed a young man with autism whose intelligence quotient stopped at that of a five-year-old. The encore run of Jekyll & Hyde was also under way at the time.
Source 16 · Seoul Shinmun (Korean) · Cho Seung-woo in the film Marathon · opens in a new tabSource 17 · The Kyunghyang Shinmun (Korean) · An actor who knows life and acting are both marathons · opens in a new tabWon for Marathon. The film won the grand prize in film, and its audience passed 5.2 million.
Source 18 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · The 41st Baeksang Arts Awards · opens in a new tabYonhap News Agency named the combined hits of Marathon and Jekyll & Hyde as the highlights of his 2005.
Source 19 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · 2005 People in the News, domestic edition · opens in a new tabPlayed Go-ni. Star News reports that on day 20 of release, Oct. 16, it passed 5 million admissions nationwide, and 5.2 million by Oct. 18.
Source 20 · The Dong-A Ilbo (Korean) · Tazza opening notice · opens in a new tabSource 21 · Star News (Korean) · Tazza hit lifts the original comic to No. 1 · opens in a new tabSource 22 · Star News (Korean) · Tazza reaches 5.2 million · opens in a new tab The Dong-A Ilbo gives the opening date as Sept. 28, while Star News says the 27th of the previous month. Only the month is given.Enlisted in the army on active duty, was then transferred to the combat police, and served in the Whistle theater troupe of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.
Source 23 · Dailian (Korean) · Cho Seung-woo enlists in the army · opens in a new tabSource 24 · Newsen (Korean) · Screening of The Sword with No Name during service · opens in a new tab The enlistment date was not disclosed until the day, so it was not confirmed.Appeared in the film with Soo Ae, which opened while he was in service.
Source 25 · Star News (Korean) · The Sword with No Name special screening at the Blue House · opens in a new tabSource 24 · Newsen (Korean) · Screening of The Sword with No Name during service · opens in a new tabCompleted one year and 10 months of service. Edaily reports that he left on the morning of the 22nd because of remaining leave.
Source 26 · Edaily (Korean) · Cho Seung-woo discharged · opens in a new tabSource 27 · TV Report (Korean) · First press conference after discharge · opens in a new tabPlayed Baek Gwang-hyun, Joseon’s first surgeon of traditional Korean medicine, in MBC’s special drama for its 51st anniversary.
Source 28 · Sports Kyunghyang (Korean) · The King’s Doctor, child actors’ resemblance · opens in a new tabReturned to drama after The King’s Doctor. At the Feb. 27 press conference, the first broadcast was announced for Mar. 3.
Source 29 · Seoul Economic Daily (Korean) · God’s Gift: 14 Days press conference · opens in a new tab The first broadcast date is the scheduled date in the press conference article.Appeared with Lee Byung-hun, playing the prosecutor Woo Jang-hoon.
Source 30 · Dailian (Korean) · Inside Men passes 2 million · opens in a new tab The opening date is calculated from the article’s day 6 of release, the 24th.Was listed with Yang Jun-mo as Sweeney Todd in the production opening in June. It was the first production in which he shared the stage with Ok Joo-hyun.
Source 31 · Seoul Economic Daily (Korean) · Sweeney Todd cast announced · opens in a new tab Apr. 6 is the date of the casting announcement.Played the prosecutor Hwang Si-mok. News1 reports that its peak rating passed 4% from the first episode.
Source 32 · News1 (Korean) · Stranger, the cooperation begins in earnest · opens in a new tabWon for Stranger. The same series also won the grand prize in television and the screenplay award.
Source 33 · Busan Ilbo (Korean) · 2018 Baeksang Arts Awards · opens in a new tabCo-led the film with Ji Sung. Cumulative admissions were 1.88 million as of Sept. 29.
Source 34 · Newsis (Korean) · The Great Battle at 4 million, Feng Shui at 1.88 million · opens in a new tab The opening date was not confirmed in news reports.A new season three years after season 1. TenAsia reports that the first episode’s peak rating passed 10%.
Source 35 · TenAsia (Korean) · Stranger 2 first-episode ratings · opens in a new tabAppeared with Park Shin-hye, playing Han Tae-sul.
Source 36 · Sports Seoul (Korean) · New series Sisyphus: The Myth · opens in a new tab The first broadcast date is the scheduled date in a pre-broadcast article.Was cast as the Phantom, with Choi Jae-rim, Julian Jootaek Kim and Jeon Dong-seok, in the first Korean-language production in 13 years.
Source 37 · Xports News (Korean) · The Phantom of the Opera casting confirmed · opens in a new tabPlayed Shin Sung-han, who gave up life as an artist to become a divorce lawyer.
Source 38 · TenAsia (Korean) · Divorce Attorney Shin first broadcast · opens in a new tabPlayed Hamlet at the Towol Theater of the Seoul Arts Center. It was the first play of his career, 24 years after his debut.
Source 39 · Channel A (Korean) · Final rehearsal of the play Hamlet · opens in a new tabSource 40 · Joynews24 (Korean) · First play in 24 years, Hamlet · opens in a new tabWon best actor in theater for Hamlet.
Source 41 · Tour Korea (Korean) · 2025 Golden Ticket Awards · opens in a new tab The ceremony date was not confirmed. Based on an article dated May 19.Appeared with Nam Joo-hyuk and Roh Yoon-seo, playing the king.
Source 42 · bnt News (Korean) · Third week of July new releases · opens in a new tabSource 43 · Wikitree (Korean) · The East Palace character posters · opens in a new tabSource 45 · Raon News (Korean) · The East Palace press conference · opens in a new tabSource 46 · Sisa Journal (Korean) · Joseon ghosts in The East Palace that charmed the West · opens in a new tabEND OF SELECTED RECORDSSelected records, 1999–2026 · not a complete list of work. “Key moment” is an editorial label, not a measure of success.
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Film & TV · South Korea
Mar 28, 1980 —
Ages are counted from the birth year 1980: the year of the event minus 1980, birthdays aside. “Key moment” labels and the connecting story are AgeTrail's editorial reading.
Fact-checked: 2026.10.03 · An independent archive, not affiliated with the person or their agency.