The year he turned 26, he debuted by joining KBS as an actor in its 14th open recruitment class. That year he appeared in KBS1’s Baramkkocheun Sideulji Anneunda. In 1996, he played the nightclub singer Ju Jung-nam in KBS2’s First Love. Some articles say it made him known, but OBS says it was the character Ju Jung-nam, not the actor, who became known.
The breakthrough yearThe year he turned 40, he played the unfaithful husband Ban Sung-moon in KBS2’s My Rosy Life. Munhwa Ilbo and OBS say his name became widely known through this work. That year he won the Excellence Award, Actor at the KBS Drama Awards.
The year he turned 44, he won the Top Excellence Award, Actor at the KBS Drama Awards for My Too Perfect Sons. In 2012, he took his first solo lead in SBS’s The Chaser, and won the SBS Drama Awards Grand Prize that year.
The year he turned 48, the films Secretly, Greatly and Hide and Seek were both box-office hits. Hide and Seek was his first solo lead in a film, and its total audience is 5,604,106. He also won Best Actor in television at the Baeksang Arts Awards. In 2015, he played Chief Choi in the film The Chronicles of Evil. In 2016, he appeared as Jang Young-chul in tvN’s Signal.
The year he turned 52, he won Best Actor at the Moscow International Film Festival for Ordinary Person. Sports Donga says it was the first win by a Korean actor in 24 years. In 2019, he appeared in KBS2’s Justice and the film Jesters: The Game Changers. In 2020, JTBC’s The Good Detective season 1 ended with a final-episode rating of 8.5%.
The year he turned 56, he appeared on a variety show for the first time in 30 years, MBC’s Son Hyun-joo’s Simple Station. In 2022, he appeared in quick succession in MBC’s Tracer, the film Hansan: Rising Dragon and JTBC’s The Good Detective 2.
The year he turned 59, he played the judge Song Pan-ho in the Genie TV original Your Honor. In 2025, he appeared in the film Big Deal. In 2026, he played Dr. Ha Won-do in the Netflix series The Wonderfools and Chairman Kang Yong-ho of Choeseong Group in JTBC’s Reborn Rookie.
Son Hyun-joo (born 1965) debuted in 1991, the year he turned 26, as an actor in KBS’s 14th open recruitment class, and became known in 2005, the year he turned 40, for his role as Ban Sung-moon in KBS2’s My Rosy Life. He won the SBS Drama Awards Grand Prize on Dec 31, 2012, the year he turned 47.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.
After working as a stage actor in a theater company, he came to TV by joining KBS as an actor through its open recruitment. That year he appeared in KBS1’s Baramkkocheun Sideulji Anneunda.
Source 01 · Sports Kyunghyang (Korean) · Your Honor wrap-up press conference · opens in a new tabSource 05 · Seoul Shinmun (Korean) · Son Hyun-joo interview · opens in a new tab The broadcast start date could not be confirmed.He played Ju Jung-nam, a nightclub singer. Seoul Shinmun says an album with the songs from the drama sold 400,000 copies.
Source 04 · News Inside (Korean) · Baekban Gihaeng · opens in a new tabSource 05 · Seoul Shinmun (Korean) · Son Hyun-joo interview · opens in a new tabSource 03 · OBS (Korean) · My Rosy Life · opens in a new tab News Inside presents this drama as the one that made him known to the public, but OBS says it was the character Ju Jung-nam, not the actor, who became known. The broadcast start date could not be confirmed.In the drama with the late Choi Jin-sil, he played Ban Sung-moon, an unfaithful husband. Munhwa Ilbo and OBS say his name became widely known through this work.
He received it for My Rosy Life.
Source 09 · Sports Chosun (Korean) · Son Hyun-joo interview · opens in a new tab The ceremony date could not be confirmed.He played Song Jin-poong in My Too Perfect Sons, and won the Top Excellence Award, Actor at that year’s KBS Drama Awards.
Source 09 · Sports Chosun (Korean) · Son Hyun-joo interview · opens in a new tab The ceremony date could not be confirmed.He played the detective Baek Hong-seok in his first solo lead role. According to OhmyNews, ratings started in the single digits and ended at 22.6%, the highest in its time slot.
Source 10 · OhmyNews (Korean) · The Chaser · opens in a new tabSource 13 · Star News (Korean) · 49th Baeksang Arts Awards · opens in a new tabSource 02 · Money Today (Korean) · The Chaser and Son Hyun-joo · opens in a new tabHe won the Grand Prize for The Chaser, at a ceremony held at SBS Prism Tower in Sangam-dong, Seoul.
Source 11 · Joynews24 (Korean) · 2012 SBS Drama Awards · opens in a new tabSource 12 · Segye Ilbo (Korean) · 2012 SBS Drama Awards · opens in a new tab Segye Ilbo says it came 22 years after his debut.In the drama by the writer Park Kyung-soo, he played Choi Min-jae, who stands against the lead character Jang Tae-ju (Go Soo).
Source 10 · OhmyNews (Korean) · The Chaser · opens in a new tab The broadcast start date could not be confirmed.He received it for his role as Baek Hong-seok in The Chaser.
Source 13 · Star News (Korean) · 49th Baeksang Arts Awards · opens in a new tabHe played a North Korean army instructor. The film opened in June.
Source 14 · Star News (Korean) · 2013 box-office hits · opens in a new tab The release date could not be confirmed in news reports.He played Sung-soo. It passed 4 million admissions in 12 days of release, and its total audience is 5,604,106. OhmyNews says it was his first solo lead in a film, 23 years after his debut.
Source 15 · Korea Lecturer News (Korean) · Film Hide and Seek · opens in a new tabSource 16 · Sports Kyunghyang (Korean) · Hide and Seek passes 4 million · opens in a new tabSource 17 · OhmyNews (Korean) · The films we loved back then: Hide and Seek · opens in a new tab OhmyNews says two films drew 12 million viewers that year.He played Chief Choi.
Source 18 · Korea Lecturer News (Korean) · Film The Chronicles of Evil · opens in a new tabIn the 16-episode drama that aired until March 12, he played Jang Young-chul, a corrupt lawmaker.
Source 19 · Korea Lecturer News (Korean) · Drama Signal · opens in a new tabSource 10 · OhmyNews (Korean) · The Chaser · opens in a new tab OhmyNews says it was a special appearance. The episode he first appeared in could not be confirmed.It drew 380,000 admissions, per KOBIS statistics.
Source 21 · Economy Queen (Korean) · Film Ordinary Person · opens in a new tab The release date could not be confirmed in news reports.He received it for Ordinary Person. Sports Donga says it was the first win by a Korean actor in 24 years. The date is local time.
Source 20 · Sports Donga (Korean) · Moscow International Film Festival · opens in a new tabHe played Song Woo-yong, the chairman of a construction company.
Source 22 · TenAsia (Korean) · Justice first episode · opens in a new tabHe co-starred with Jo Jin-woong and Park Hee-soon.
Source 23 · Korea Lecturer News (Korean) · Film Jesters: The Game Changers · opens in a new tabThe final episode drew a rating of 8.5% (Nielsen Korea, paying households, Seoul metropolitan area).
Source 24 · Sports Chosun (Korean) · The Good Detective 2 press conference · opens in a new tab The finale date could not be confirmed.He appeared on a variety show for the first time in 30 years.
Source 25 · Sports Chosun (Korean) · Son Hyun-joo’s Simple Station · opens in a new tabHe played In Tae-joon of the National Tax Service, his first MBC drama in 15 years.
Source 26 · Maeil Business Newspaper (Korean) · Joining Tracer · opens in a new tabSource 27 · BizEnter (Korean) · Tracer best scenes · opens in a new tab The first airing date comes from a scheduling article and could not be confirmed in later reports.He played Won Gyun.
Source 29 · Dailian (Korean) · Hansan: Rising Dragon lineup · opens in a new tabSource 30 · Xportsnews (Korean) · Hansan stage greeting · opens in a new tabAs Kang Do-chang, he investigated cases again with Jang Seung-jo.
Source 28 · News1 (Korean) · The Good Detective 2 first episode · opens in a new tabHe played Song Pan-ho, a judge who covers up his son’s case, in a face-off with Kim Myung-min.
Source 31 · Star News (Korean) · Your Honor · opens in a new tabHe appeared alongside Yoo Hae-jin and Lee Je-hoon.
Source 32 · Korea Lecturer News (Korean) · Film Big Deal · opens in a new tabHe played Dr. Ha Won-do, who has been secretly researching superpowers.
Source 35 · Herald Muze (Korean) · Joining Netflix’s The Wonderfools · opens in a new tabSource 36 · Star News (Korean) · Reborn Rookie first episode · opens in a new tab The release date comes from pre-release articles.He played Kang Yong-ho, the chairman of Choeseong Group. It ended on July 5 with a peak rating of 13.6%.
Source 33 · TV Report (Korean) · Reborn Rookie · opens in a new tabSource 34 · Xportsnews (Korean) · Reborn Rookie finale · opens in a new tabSource 36 · Star News (Korean) · Reborn Rookie first episode · opens in a new tabEND OF SELECTED RECORDSSelected records, 1991–2026 · 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.
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Film & TV · South Korea
1965 —
Ages are counted from the birth year 1965: the year of the event minus 1965, 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.