Born in 1968, KIM Yun-seok spent his childhood in Busan. He made his stage debut in 1988 in a production of <A Streetcar Named Desire>, but he also tried different positions behind the stage, such as director. In early 1990s, he decided to join Yeon Woo Theater Company, where he notably met SONG Kang-ho. Having made his name playing in a large number of productions, he made his first big screen appearance in the 1994 film <Young Lover> (1994). KIM had given up fil...More

Born in 1968, KIM Yun-seok spent his childhood in Busan. He made his stage debut in 1988 in a production of <A Streetcar Named Desire>, but he also tried different positions behind the stage, such as director. In early 1990s, he decided to join Yeon Woo Theater Company, where he notably met SONG Kang-ho. Having made his name playing in a large number of productions, he made his first big screen appearance in the 1994 film <Young Lover> (1994). KIM had given up film acting as he struggled to make a living from it, but SONG Kang-ho and other actor friends convinced him to take another shot. KIM made his comeback in the film<Besa Me Mucho> (2001). He later got a few other supporting roles in films such as <The Big Swindle> (2004), <Running Wild> (2006), and <Like A Virgin> (2006). It was CHOI Dong-hoon’s caper film <Tazza: The High Rollers> (2006) where KIM was first noticed by moviegoers. His performance as a charismatic gambler earned him the Best Actor Award at the Grand Bell Awards. In 2008, he garnered praise from audience and critics alike for his performance in NA Hong-jin’s debut film <The Chaser> (2008), in which he played a former cop turned pimp who is on the tail of a serial killer. He portrayed the middle-aged man following his lifelong dream to play in a rock band in <The Happy Life> (2007) and the rural cop chasing down a serial killer in <Running Turtle> (2009). He consolidated his presence as one of Korea’s finest character actors in the city action film <Woochi> (2009) by CHOI Dong-hoon. <The Yellow Sea> (2010) was the ambitious reunion project with director NA Hong-jin. <Punch> (2011) became the third highest grossing film of 2011, in which KIM portrayed an ill-tempered teacher. In 2012, KIM once again triumphed, as his summer hit <The Thieves> (2012) became the most successful Korean film of all time. In 2014, he played a tough captain in the BONG Joon-ho-produced <Haemoo> (2014) and reprised his role for <Tazza-The Hidden Card> (2014). KIM next appeared as the older version of a musician in the music biopic <C’est Si Bon> (2014), a Lunar New Year release in 2015. The same year he paired up with YOO Hae-jin as a detective searching for a kidnapped girl in 1970s Busan in KWAK Kyung-taek’s <The Classified File> (2014). Next for KIM was a role alongside GANG Dong-won in <The Priests> (2015). 2017 was another exceptional year for him, as he starred as a jingoist royal minister in the critically acclaimed period drama <The Fortress> (2017) alongside LEE Byung-hun and PARK Hae-il, and later played a chilling commissioner in <1987: When the Day Comes> (2017). He was back again as a police detective in the thriller <Dark Figure of Crime> (2018). KIM took up another challenge by directing <Another Child> (2019), based on a play. This film won the NETPAC Award at the Hawaii International Film Festival.Less