In 2006, the year he turned 16, he took the stage in the musical Cheonsangsigye. In 2007 he debuted as Choi Hoon in KBS2’s My Mom! Super Mom!, beating odds of 800 to 1.
In 2011 he made his screen debut in the film Battlefield Heroes. In 2012 he played Min Hyun-jae in SBS’s To the Beautiful You. In 2013 he appeared in Monstar and The Heirs.
The breakthrough yearThe year he turned 24, he became known as Jang Baek-gi in tvN’s Misaeng: Incomplete Life.
In 2015 the film Twenty topped the box office on its opening day. In 2016 he played Yun Dong-ju in Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet and Wang Wook in SBS’s Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo. In 2017 New Trial and Midnight Runners were released, and in September he enlisted in the Army.
In 2019 he was discharged and returned with When the Camellia Blooms. In 2020 he won Best Actor in TV at the Baeksang Arts Awards for When the Camellia Blooms. In 2021 he played On Hyeop in KBS2’s River Where the Moon Rises.
In 2022 The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure was released, and he won the Top Excellence Award for an actor at the KBS Drama Awards for Curtain Call.
In 2023 Love Reset drew 2.16 million admissions. In December 2024 he played Dae-ho in Netflix’s Squid Game season 2. In 2025 Yadang: The Snitch, Tastefully Yours and Squid Game season 3 came out in quick succession.
In 2026 he voiced Kang-ha in the animated film Gill.
Kang Ha-neul (born Feb 21, 1990) debuted in 2007, the year he turned 17, in KBS2’s My Mom! Super Mom!, and became known in 2014, the year he turned 24, as Jang Baek-gi in tvN’s Misaeng: Incomplete Life. In 2020, the year he turned 30, he won Best Actor in TV at the Baeksang Arts Awards for When the Camellia Blooms.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.
Took the stage in high school as Jang Yeong-sil, the lead in the musical Cheonsangsigye. He later appeared in Thrill Me, Spring Awakening and other productions.
Source 01 · Wikipedia (Korean) · Kang Ha-neul · opens in a new tabSource 04 · OhmyNews (Korean) · Kang Ha-neul in his thirties · opens in a new tabSource 02 · Newsis (Korean) · “I’m not an actor who dropped from the sky” · opens in a new tabBeating odds of 800 to 1, began acting on TV as Choi Hoon, cousin of Choi Gang (played by Jin-won).
Source 03 · Sisun News (Korean) · Kang Ha-neul filmography · opens in a new tabSource 04 · OhmyNews (Korean) · Kang Ha-neul in his thirties · opens in a new tab The month and day the show began could not be confirmed in news reports.Was cast in a near-lead role in director Lee Joon-ik’s Battlefield Heroes, his first film.
Source 05 · Maeil Business Newspaper (Korean) · Cast in Battlefield Heroes · opens in a new tabSource 06 · Edaily (Korean) · Battlefield Heroes newcomer interview · opens in a new tabSource 07 · Jeonbuk Domin Ilbo (Korean) · Jeonju International Film Festival · opens in a new tabWas cast against odds of 100 to 1. He played a high jumper who is the rival of Kang Tae-joon, played by Choi Min-ho.
Source 08 · Hankyung (Korean) · Cast in To the Beautiful You · opens in a new tabSource 09 · OSEN (Korean) · First episode of To the Beautiful You · opens in a new tabPlayed Jung Sun-woo, who plays the cello in an orchestra club.
Source 10 · Sports World (Korean) · Cast in Monstar · opens in a new tabSource 02 · Newsis (Korean) · “I’m not an actor who dropped from the sky” · opens in a new tabAppeared with Lee Min-ho, Park Shin-hye, Kim Woo-bin and others.
Source 11 · Harper’s Bazaar (Korean) · The Heirs cast · opens in a new tabSource 12 · Nocut News (Korean) · The Heirs episode 1 ratings · opens in a new tabSource 23 · Topstar News (Korean) · Kang Ha-neul’s recent work and roles · opens in a new tabRose to stardom playing Jang Baek-gi. Until then he had mostly played high school students.
Appeared with Kim Woo-bin and Lee Joon-ho. The film topped the box office on its opening day.
Source 16 · Seoul Economic Daily (Korean) · Twenty tops the box office · opens in a new tabSource 23 · Topstar News (Korean) · Kang Ha-neul’s recent work and roles · opens in a new tabPlayed the poet Yun Dong-ju in director Lee Joon-ik’s film.
Source 17 · Nocut News (Korean) · Dongju set for February release · opens in a new tabSource 18 · E-Today (Korean) · Dongju at 650,000 admissions · opens in a new tabAppeared with Lee Joon-gi and IU as the 8th Prince, Wang Wook. The 20-episode series ended on Nov. 1.
Source 19 · Seoul Shinmun (Korean) · First episode of Moon Lovers · opens in a new tabSource 20 · Global Economic (Korean) · Moon Lovers ends · opens in a new tabAppeared with Jung Woo in a film based on a real murder case.
Source 21 · Korea Lecturer News (Korean) · New Trial information · opens in a new tabSource 01 · Wikipedia (Korean) · Kang Ha-neul · opens in a new tab The character name is from Wikipedia; not confirmed in news reports.Played a police academy student with Park Seo-joon in a film that drew 5.65 million admissions.
Source 22 · Star News (Korean) · Midnight Runners release confirmed · opens in a new tabSource 23 · Topstar News (Korean) · Kang Ha-neul’s recent work and roles · opens in a new tabEntered the Army boot camp in Nonsan. He later served in the Army military police battalion of the Gyeryongdae Support Group in Daejeon.
Source 24 · Ilyo Seoul (Korean) · Kang Ha-neul enlists · opens in a new tabSource 25 · Gonggam Shinmun (Korean) · Kang Ha-neul discharged · opens in a new tabWas discharged at Gyeryongdae in Daejeon.
Source 25 · Gonggam Shinmun (Korean) · Kang Ha-neul discharged · opens in a new tabAppeared with Gong Hyo-jin in his first work after discharge.
Source 26 · News1 (Korean) · When the Camellia Blooms, first work after discharge · opens in a new tabWon it for When the Camellia Blooms. He also won the acting award at the Korea Broadcasting Prizes that year.
Source 27 · Biz Enter (Korean) · 2020 Baeksang Arts Awards · opens in a new tabSource 28 · The Fact (Korean) · Kang Ha-neul’s awards · opens in a new tabPlayed On Hyeop, Ondal’s father.
Source 29 · Joy News 24 (Korean) · First episode of River Where the Moon Rises · opens in a new tabPlayed Moo-chi, the leader of a band of righteous thieves, with Han Hyo-joo and Lee Kwang-soo. About 92,000 people saw it on its opening day.
Source 30 · Digital Times (Korean) · The Pirates opening day · opens in a new tabSource 31 · KBS Entertainment (Korean) · The Pirates, Moo-chi interview · opens in a new tabPlayed Yoo Jae-heon, the fake grandson of a terminally ill grandmother, with Ha Ji-won and Go Doo-shim. The series ended on Dec. 27.
Source 32 · Newsen (Korean) · First episode of Curtain Call · opens in a new tabSource 33 · CBC News (Korean) · Curtain Call ends · opens in a new tabShared the Top Excellence Award for an actor with Doh Kyung-soo for Curtain Call.
Source 34 · Newsen (Korean) · 2022 KBS Drama Awards · opens in a new tabAppeared with Jung So-min in a film that drew 2.16 million admissions.
Source 35 · Korea Lecturer News (Korean) · Love Reset information · opens in a new tabSource 23 · Topstar News (Korean) · Kang Ha-neul’s recent work and roles · opens in a new tabPlayed the player Dae-ho with Lee Jung-jae, Lee Byung-hun and others.
Source 36 · Korea Lecturer News (Korean) · Squid Game season 2 cast · opens in a new tabPlayed Lee Kang-soo, a broker who passes drug information to investigators. The film drew 3.37 million admissions.
Source 37 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Yadang, the role of Lee Kang-soo · opens in a new tabSource 38 · TenAsia (Korean) · Yadang’s box-office run after release · opens in a new tabSource 39 · Sisa Week (Korean) · 2025 film roundup · opens in a new tabSource 40 · OBS TV (Korean) · The prolific of 2025 · opens in a new tab OBS counted six Kang Ha-neul releases in 2025, including Streaming, Yadang, Tastefully Yours, Squid Game season 3 and Wall to Wall.Played Han Beom-woo, a chaebol heir who takes over small restaurants in mergers to inherit a food company. It was his return to TV drama after about three years since Curtain Call.
Source 41 · OSEN (Korean) · Tastefully Yours, a second-generation chaebol · opens in a new tabSource 42 · Ilgan Sports (Korean) · First episode of Tastefully Yours · opens in a new tab OSEN described Han Beom-woo as a second-generation chaebol and Ilgan Sports as a third-generation one.Played the player Dae-ho again after season 2.
Source 43 · Economic Review (Korean) · Squid Game season 3 released · opens in a new tabSource 40 · OBS TV (Korean) · The prolific of 2025 · opens in a new tabAppeared as a voice actor with Jung Hae-in, Lee Chung-ah and others. It is his first dubbed animation since his debut.
Source 44 · News1 (Korean) · Gill release date announced · opens in a new tabSource 45 · The Fact (Korean) · Gill, Kang-ha’s voice · opens in a new tabEND OF SELECTED RECORDSSelected records, 2006–2026 · not a complete list of work. “Key moment” is an editorial label, not a measure of success.
What did they do, and at what age?
AgeTrail lines up the key moments of a life by age.
Debut and breakthrough are marked separately, and every record has a source.
Film & TV · South Korea
Feb 21, 1990 —
Ages are counted from the birth year 1990: the year of the event minus 1990, birthdays aside. “Key moment” labels and the connecting story are AgeTrail's editorial reading.
Fact-checked: 2026.09.29 · An independent archive, not affiliated with the person or their agency.