Kim Bum

Kim Bum (김범), born Kim Sang-bum, turned early Hallyu fame into one of the steadier second acts among actors of his generation. Boys Over Flowers gave him instant regional visibility in 2009, but the career that followed mattered more: he moved away from easy nostalgia and rebuilt his screen image through colder, sharper, and more emotionally layered parts.

That reset became clear in Law School, Ghost Doctor, and the Tale of the Nine Tailed franchise, where his work as Lee Rang gave him one of Korean fantasy TV's most durable characters of the decade. He can play elegance, menace, wit, and grief without pushing any one note too hard, which is why his mid-career run has held up better than many actors who broke out in the same era.

Kim remains closely tied to King Kong by Starship, the agency that first signed him and still anchors his long-form career. His 2026 SBS return with Sold Out on You shows where he sits now: not just a legacy heartthrob, but a durable lead who can move between prestige-friendly material and commercial television.