In 2011, the year he turned 20, he enlisted in the Air Force and was discharged as a sergeant from the military police quick reaction unit. In 2015, he debuted as the young Woo-gon in the film Coin Locker Girl. In 2016, he appeared in a supporting role in MBC’s Goodbye Mr. Black.
The breakthrough yearIn 2017, the year he turned 26, he became known as the two-faced con man Ryu in the KBS2 weekend drama My Golden Life.
In 2018, he played the lead in the horror film Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum, which passed 2 million admissions 11 days after opening and ranked third among Korean horror films of all time. That year he also appeared as Son Ye-jin’s younger brother in JTBC’s Something in the Rain, and in November he was nominated for Best New Actor at the Blue Dragon Film Awards for Gonjiam.
In 2019, he played a freelance book designer in tvN’s Romance Is a Bonus Book. In May, he appeared in the film Miss & Mrs. Cops as the leader of a new kind of digital crime ring.
In 2020, he appeared in JTBC’s 18 Again as a pro baseball player. In 2021, the year he turned 30, he played the detective Hwang Jun-ho in Netflix’s Squid Game. After its release his Instagram followers grew from 300,000 to 3.75 million.
In 2022, he played Choi Do-il, head of overseas operations at Wonryeong Group, in tvN’s Little Women. In 2023, he appeared in Disney+’s The Worst of Evil and Netflix’s Gyeongseong Creature one after the other.
In 2024, he played the lead in tvN’s The Midnight Romance in Hagwon, and in December he returned in Squid Game season 2. In 2025, he appeared in Squid Game season 3. In 2026, he appeared in tvN’s Siren’s Kiss and was cast in the film Nam Eun-jeong and the drama Alike one after the other.
Wi Ha-joon (born Aug 5, 1991) debuted in the film Coin Locker Girl in 2015, the year he turned 24, and became known in 2017, the year he turned 26, as the con man Ryu in KBS2’s My Golden Life. In 2021, the year he turned 30, he played the detective Hwang Jun-ho in Netflix’s Squid Game.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.
Enlisted in the Air Force as part of enlisted class 709, served in the military police quick reaction unit of the 10th Fighter Wing and was discharged as a sergeant after completing his term.
Source 14 · Top Star News (Korean) · Military service record · opens in a new tabSource 15 · Newsis (Korean) · Interview in his sixth year in the reserves · opens in a new tab The months of enlistment and discharge were not confirmed.Made his screen debut as the young Woo-gon in the film Coin Locker Girl.
Source 01 · Joongboo Ilbo (Korean) · Today’s birthdays · opens in a new tabSource 02 · Wikipedia (Korean) · Wi Ha-joon · opens in a new tabSource 16 · Seoul Economic Daily (Korean) · Interview with the island-village star from Wando · opens in a new tabAppeared in the MBC drama Goodbye Mr. Black in a supporting role.
Source 03 · Wikipedia (Korean) · Goodbye Mr. Black (TV series) · opens in a new tab The broadcast period is from Wikipedia and was not confirmed in news reports.In the KBS2 weekend drama My Golden Life, played Ryu, who appears as a bodyguard and driver for Choi Seo-hyun (Lee Da-in) and turns out to be part of a couple running a scam to extort 700 million won. He left the show after episode 25, which aired Nov. 25. He says people recognized him for the first time after this series.
Played Ha-joon, leader of the horror-exploration team Horror Times, in the horror film Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum. It passed 2 million admissions on April 7, day 11 after opening, and ranked third among Korean horror films of all time, after A Tale of Two Sisters and Phone. Total admissions were 2,675,883.
Source 20 · Maekyung Star Today (Korean) · Gonjiam passes 2 million · opens in a new tabSource 21 · Ilyo Shinmun (Korean) · Gonjiam’s results in a report on Noise’s box office · opens in a new tabSource 18 · Herald POP (Korean) · Birth of a next-generation star · opens in a new tab The opening date is counted back from Maekyung Star Today’s report of day 11 (April 7).Played Yoon Seung-ho, the younger brother of Yoon Jin-ah (Son Ye-jin), in the JTBC drama Something in the Rain.
Source 04 · Wikipedia (Korean) · Something in the Rain · opens in a new tabSource 16 · Seoul Economic Daily (Korean) · Interview with the island-village star from Wando · opens in a new tab The start date is from Wikipedia.Was nominated for Best New Actor at the 39th Blue Dragon Film Awards for Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum.
Source 22 · Hankook Ilbo (Korean) · 39th Blue Dragon Film Awards red carpet · opens in a new tabPlayed Ji Seo-joon, a freelance book designer, in the tvN drama Romance Is a Bonus Book. The role earned him a nomination for Best New Actor in television at the 55th Baeksang Arts Awards.
Source 05 · Wikipedia (Korean) · Romance Is a Bonus Book · opens in a new tabSource 15 · Newsis (Korean) · Interview in his sixth year in the reserves · opens in a new tabSource 02 · Wikipedia (Korean) · Wi Ha-joon · opens in a new tab The start date and the Baeksang Arts Awards nomination are from Wikipedia and were not confirmed in news reports.Played Woo-jun, leader of a new kind of digital crime ring and the main villain, in Miss & Mrs. Cops. It passed 1 million admissions on May 18, day 10 after opening.
Source 13 · Wikipedia (Korean) · Miss & Mrs. Cops · opens in a new tab The opening date and the date it passed 1 million admissions are from Wikipedia and were not confirmed in news reports.Played Ye Ji-hoon, a pitcher for the pro baseball team Seoum Wolves, in the JTBC drama 18 Again.
Source 06 · Wikipedia (Korean) · 18 Again · opens in a new tab The broadcast period is from Wikipedia.In the Netflix series Squid Game, played the police officer Hwang Jun-ho, who infiltrates the survival game disguised as a staff member while looking for his missing brother. It became the first Korean drama to reach No. 1 on Netflix’s global TV chart, and his Instagram followers grew from 300,000 before release to 3.75 million.
Source 23 · Star News (Korean) · Squid Game interview · opens in a new tabSource 24 · News1 (Korean) · Surge in social media followers · opens in a new tabPlayed Choi Do-il, a Wharton School graduate and head of overseas operations at Wonryeong Group, in the tvN drama Little Women.
Source 07 · Wikipedia (Korean) · Little Women (2022 TV series) · opens in a new tab The start date is from Wikipedia.Played Jung Gi-cheol, boss of the Gangnam Alliance, in the Disney+ drama The Worst of Evil.
Source 08 · The Fact (Korean) · The Worst of Evil interview · opens in a new tabPlayed Kwon Jun-taek, a member of an anti-Japanese group, the Patriots’ Corps, in the Netflix series Gyeongseong Creature.
Source 09 · Wikipedia (Korean) · Gyeongseong Creature · opens in a new tab The start date is from Wikipedia.Played the lead role of Lee Jun-ho, a new instructor at a Daechi-dong cram school, in the tvN drama The Midnight Romance in Hagwon. He says he worked again with director Ahn Pan-seok five years after Something in the Rain.
Source 10 · Wikipedia (Korean) · The Midnight Romance in Hagwon · opens in a new tabSource 31 · Joy News 24 (Korean) · The Midnight Romance in Hagwon press conference · opens in a new tabReturned as Hwang Jun-ho in Squid Game season 2 on Netflix.
Source 11 · Maeil Business Newspaper (Korean) · Squid Game 2 interview · opens in a new tabSource 25 · News1 (Korean) · Coffee truck gift from Son Ye-jin · opens in a new tabPlayed Jun-ho in Squid Game season 3 on Netflix. All six episodes were released.
Source 12 · Edaily (Korean) · Squid Game season 3 interview · opens in a new tabPlayed the investigator Cha Woo-seok in the tvN Monday-Tuesday drama Siren’s Kiss. It first aired March 2, and the April 7 finale drew a national average rating of 4.5% and a peak of 5.4%.
Source 26 · Beyond Post (Korean) · Siren’s Kiss first broadcast · opens in a new tabSource 27 · Joy News 24 (Korean) · Siren’s Kiss ends · opens in a new tabWas cast in Nam Eun-jeong, director Kim Dong-hoon’s feature debut. He plays Park Seon-gyu, the boyfriend who looks after Eun-jeong, played by Park Eun-bin.
Source 28 · Hankook Ilbo (Korean) · Cast in Nam Eun-jeong · opens in a new tabSource 29 · Top Star News (Korean) · Nam Eun-jeong update · opens in a new tabJoined a new tvN drama, Alike, as a lead with Lim Ji-yeon. The broadcast date has not been set.
Source 30 · News1 (Korean) · Joins Alike as a lead · opens in a new tabEND OF SELECTED RECORDSSelected records, 2011–2026 · 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
Aug 5, 1991 —
Ages are counted from the birth year 1991: the year of the event minus 1991, 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.