In 2002, the year he turned 21, he debuted in KBS2’s Loving You.
The breakthrough yearIn 2007, the year he turned 26, he became known when he co-starred with Lee Su-kyung in the KBS2 weekend drama Daughters-in-Law. At the end of that year he won a male newcomer award at the KBS Drama Awards for it.
In 2008, he played Jo Gi-dong in SBS’s Friday drama Why Did You Come to My House? In 2009, he held a solo fan meeting in Osaka, Japan, and in December he attended the press conference for SBS’s Stars Falling from the Sky. In 2013, he won Excellence Award, Actor in a Long Drama, at the SBS Drama Awards for Goddess of Marriage.
In 2014, the year he turned 33, he appeared in MBC’s Jang Bo-ri Is Here! as the prosecutor Lee Jae-hwa. TV Report calls this a second heyday. In December he won Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama, at the MBC Drama Awards.
In March 2015, he was chosen as a model for the fashion brands Tremolo and Rundic and was set to appear in the KBS one-act drama Funny Woman. In 2016, he appeared in KBS2’s Sweet Stranger and Me. In 2017, he played Han Jun-hee in MBC’s Bad Thief, Good Thief and appeared in JTBC’s Crime Scene season 3.
In 2018, he played Lee Kwang-jae in MBC’s The Rich Son. In 2019, he played Tae Min-ho in TV Chosun’s Babel. He says it was almost his first villain role. In 2020, he finished the role of Baek Hee-sung in tvN’s Flower of Evil. Woman Donga says he is enjoying a second heyday since debut with this role.
In 2021, he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in television at the Baeksang Arts Awards for Flower of Evil. In 2022, he appeared as Denver in Netflix’s Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area. In 2023, he played Choi Pro in the Netflix film Ballerina.
In 2025, he won Best Acting Award, drama category, at the Golden Cinematography Awards for SBS’s The Haunted Palace, and returned to mystery variety after eight years with Netflix’s Crime Scene Zero. In November he began tvN’s Nice to Not Meet You, and in December he won Best Acting Award, OTT category, at the Seoul Global Movie Awards for Butterfly. On Jan. 1, 2026, the year he turned 45, he won an Excellence Award at the SBS Drama Awards, and in July Coupang Play’s The Affair Was Just the Beginning was released.
Kim Ji-hoon (born May 9, 1981) debuted in KBS2’s Loving You in 2002, the year he turned 21, and became known on Jul 28, 2007, the year he turned 26, when he starred in the first broadcast of KBS2’s Daughters-in-Law. In 2014, the year he turned 33, he played the prosecutor Lee Jae-hwa in MBC’s Jang Bo-ri Is Here!
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.
Debuted in the drama Loving You.
Source 01 · Dong-A Ilbo (Korean) · BoA as Japan tourism promoter · opens in a new tabSource 02 · Sports Today (Korean) · May 9 birthdays · opens in a new tabSource 32 · TV Daily (Korean) · Interview on 25 years since debut · opens in a new tab The start date of the broadcast was not confirmed.Co-starred with Lee Su-kyung in the weekend drama, as Bok-su, the eldest grandson of a family that runs a pig’s trotters restaurant. Newsen says he rose to stardom with this series.
Won a male newcomer award for Daughters-in-Law. He also won the Best Couple Award with Lee Su-kyung.
Source 03 · Star News (Korean) · 2007 KBS Drama Awards · opens in a new tabSource 04 · Nocut News (Korean) · Lead in a new drama · opens in a new tabPlayed Jo Gi-dong, who marries the female lead and becomes a live-in son-in-law. It is an SBS Friday drama.
Source 04 · Nocut News (Korean) · Lead in a new drama · opens in a new tabSource 05 · Maeil Business Newspaper (Korean) · Eyebrows in Stars Falling from the Sky · opens in a new tab March 21 is from the January report of the scheduled first broadcast; the air date itself was not confirmed.The schedule had him meeting about 800 fans at Sankei Hall Breeze in Osaka. He was later introduced as an actor who held his first official fan meeting in Japan.
Source 06 · Kyunghyang Shinmun (Korean) · Japan fan meeting · opens in a new tabSource 07 · Star News (Korean) · Rookie Japan has picked · opens in a new tab The date is from the report that it was scheduled.Played a villainous lawyer in the Monday-Tuesday drama.
Source 08 · Edaily (Korean) · Stars Falling from the Sky press conference · opens in a new tabWon for Goddess of Marriage.
Source 09 · Star News (Korean) · 2013 SBS Drama Awards · opens in a new tabAppeared for the first time in episode 7 as the prosecutor Lee Jae-hwa. TV Report says he had a second heyday with this series.
Source 10 · Maeil Business Newspaper (Korean) · First appearance in Jang Bo-ri Is Here! · opens in a new tabSource 36 · TV Report (Korean) · Jang Bo-ri Is Here! interview · opens in a new tabSource 13 · Sports Chosun (Korean) · Model for Tremolo and Rundic · opens in a new tabSource 14 · Fashionbiz (Korean) · Tremolo and Rundic models · opens in a new tab Sports Chosun says he was enjoying the peak of his career with this series, and Fashionbiz calls him a rising star who became known after appearing in it.It was reported that he would receive an award in the cultural diplomacy category for playing Lee Jae-hwa in Jang Bo-ri Is Here!
Source 11 · Hankyung TV (Korean) · Asia Culture Awards · opens in a new tab The date is from the report on the day of the ceremony.Won for Jang Bo-ri Is Here!, with Oh Yeon-seo.
Source 12 · Newsen (Korean) · 2014 MBC Drama Awards · opens in a new tabWas chosen as the new face of two men’s business casual brands from Sejung.
Source 13 · Sports Chosun (Korean) · Model for Tremolo and Rundic · opens in a new tabSource 14 · Fashionbiz (Korean) · Tremolo and Rundic models · opens in a new tabHis agency confirmed the appearance, his return about six months after Jang Bo-ri Is Here!
Source 15 · MyDaily (Korean) · Funny Woman · opens in a new tabPlayed Jo Dong-jin in the weekend drama.
Source 31 · Wikipedia (Korean) · Kim Ji-hoon (actor born 1981) · opens in a new tab The year and role are from Wikipedia and were not confirmed in news reports.Appeared in season 3 of the mystery variety show Crime Scene. He returns eight years later in Crime Scene Zero.
Source 17 · Newsen (Korean) · Joins Crime Scene Zero · opens in a new tabSource 31 · Wikipedia (Korean) · Kim Ji-hoon (actor born 1981) · opens in a new tab The year of broadcast was confirmed in news reports. The air date was not.Played Han Jun-hee, a prosecutor in the special investigations department. His childhood was played by Nam Da-reum.
Source 16 · Herald Muse (Korean) · Bad Thief, Good Thief · opens in a new tab May 13 is from the April report of the scheduled first broadcast.Played Lee Kwang-jae in an MBC weekend drama.
Source 18 · Xports News (Korean) · The Rich Son · opens in a new tabSource 31 · Wikipedia (Korean) · Kim Ji-hoon (actor born 1981) · opens in a new tab An article confirms he appeared in this role in episode 81, aired Sept. 9, 2018. The first broadcast date was not confirmed.Played Tae Min-ho in the special drama. He says it was almost his first villain role.
Source 19 · Mediaus (Korean) · What to watch in Babel · opens in a new tabThe drama in which he played Baek Hee-sung ended after 16 episodes.
Source 20 · Edaily (Korean) · Flower of Evil finale comments · opens in a new tabSource 21 · Woman Donga (Korean) · Men with long hair · opens in a new tab Woman Donga says he is enjoying a second heyday since debut with this role.Was nominated for Flower of Evil.
Source 31 · Wikipedia (Korean) · Kim Ji-hoon (actor born 1981) · opens in a new tab The nomination is from Wikipedia and was not confirmed in news reports.He appeared as Denver. The actor who plays Helsinki has the same name.
Source 22 · MyDaily (Korean) · Fan screening of Money Heist: Korea part 2 · opens in a new tabPlayed Choi Pro, whom Ok-ju is hunting.
Source 23 · OSEN (Korean) · Ballerina interview with Jeon Jong-seo · opens in a new tabPlayed King Lee Jeong. The drama ended in June.
Source 24 · SBS Entertainment News (Korean) · The Haunted Palace, Yook Sung-jae and Kim Ji-hoon · opens in a new tabSource 26 · Vegan News (Korean) · Golden Cinematography Awards · opens in a new tab April 18 is from the April 15 report of the scheduled first broadcast.Won for The Haunted Palace.
Source 26 · Vegan News (Korean) · Golden Cinematography Awards · opens in a new tabThe series ended with its week 3 episode. It was his first appearance in eight years since Crime Scene season 3.
Source 25 · Star News (Korean) · Crime Scene Zero · opens in a new tabSource 17 · Newsen (Korean) · Joins Crime Scene Zero · opens in a new tabPlayed Lee Jae-hyung.
Source 27 · Edaily (Korean) · Nice to Not Meet You · opens in a new tab Nov. 3 is from the Oct. 31 report of the scheduled first broadcast.Won for the Amazon Prime series Butterfly, introduced as his first Hollywood project.
Source 28 · Top Star News (Korean) · Seoul Global Movie Awards · opens in a new tabWon for The Haunted Palace, together with Cha Cheong-hwa.
Source 29 · Newsis (Korean) · 2025 SBS Drama Awards · opens in a new tab The ceremony is named for 2025 but was held on Jan. 1, 2026. His age is counted by the year it was held.Played Jae-hong. The eight episodes are being released weekly on Fridays.
Source 30 · Sports Kyunghyang (Korean) · The Affair Was Just the Beginning · opens in a new tabEND OF SELECTED RECORDSSelected records, 2002–2026 · not a complete list of work. “Key moment” is an editorial label, not a measure of success.
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AgeTrail lines up the key moments of a life by age.
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Film & TV · South Korea
May 9, 1981 —
Ages are counted from the birth year 1981: the year of the event minus 1981, birthdays aside. “Key moment” labels and the connecting story are AgeTrail's editorial reading.
Fact-checked: 2026.09.30 · An independent archive, not affiliated with the person or their agency.