Byeon Woo-seok’s Most Notable K-drama Characters

Byeon Woo-seok—arguably everywhere on social media these days for his role in the ongoing television series Lovely Runner—is dominating white-hot attention from K-drama fans worldwide.

Byeon debuted in Dear My Friends (2016), experiencing an important breakthrough in Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (2016). He was also a model at the time, alternating between modeling jobs and acting stints in hits including Midnight Runners (2017), Ashfall (2019), Welcome to Waikiki 2 (2019), and Search WWW (2019).

With time and more experience, Byeon keeps showing his acting chops, project by project cementing himself as a Korean hero. Listed below are his most notable K-drama characters to date.

Do Joon – Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency (2019)

The arc of this period romantic comedy follows a blacksmith-turned-king and his passion for an attractive smart peasant girl, whom he was meant to marry but couldn’t for reasons beyond his control. To win her back, he turns to Joseon’s premier marriage agency, the Flower Crew, seeking to protect her while grooming her into a refined noblewoman.

Byeon has Flower Crew’s information broker, Do Joon, who leverages his attractiveness—which invites attention, especially from women—to collect information. His appeal often serves as a potent marketing tool for Flower Crew, drawing interest and creating buzz. In the latter half of the story, he falls for the Second Chief State Councillor’s cold-conceited daughter.

Do Joon’s charm, talent, and looks coalesce into an enticement that certainly drove Byeon’s significant rise in fame.

Won Hae-hyo – Record of Youth (2020)

In the fiercely competitive world of fashion, Record of Youth explores the journeys of three individuals—two actors and a makeup artist—as they hustle toward accomplishing their dreams and pursuing love.

As Won Hae-hyo, a well-off model-turned-actor whose mom dictates his professional life, Byon co-stars with Park Bo-geum and Park So-dam in the youth romance drama. Byeon said in an interview with The Korea Times that he could well relate to Hae-hyo and began drawing parallels between the two of them since they are both models who strive for success as actors overcoming issues. Hence, Hae-hyo thinks back on Byeon’s career beginnings, when he was making his way through bottlenecks to get ahead as an actor.

Lee Pyo – Moonshine (2021)

Byeon exudes an artistic flair in his portrayal of characters. Being able to interact with the feelings of viewers is, I think, the foundation of his engaging performances, visible in his role as the wayward crown prince Lee Pyo in Moonshine, which, in the wake of a draconian alcohol ban, goes over the growing up, love lives, and maturing of the protagonists.

As royalty in the drama, Byeon excels, giving the character—who often sneaked out of the palace for a drink regardless of restrictions—an extra appeal. 

Ryu Shi-oh – Strong Girl Nam-soon (2023)

Do Bong-soon’s (Park Bo-young) sixth cousin, Gang Nam-soon (Lee Yoo-mi), shares identical superpowers as Bong-soon, inheriting them from her mother and grandmother. When Nam-soon visits South Korea as a grownup to search for her parents after being lost as a child, she locates her family. Following a happy reunion, they get entangled in an illicit drug investigation, which launches a dynamic criminal plot.

Here, Byeon’s Ryu Shi-oh is the suave CEO of a noted sales and distribution company; however, underlying the facade is an evil drug lord bent on producing, distributing, and using a dangerous narcotic. He enlists Nam-soon as his aide to make use of her strength, but he falls in love with her without realizing she intends to expose him and foil his sinister plans. 

Byeon does a good job of capturing Shi-oh’s nuanced and conflicting feelings. He’s an ideal manifestation of the actor’s interest in dabbling with various genres and his creative energy, making him driven to build a filmography that fulfills his desire to inhabit a variety of narratives and personality traits. 

Ryu Sun-jae – Lovely Runner (2024)

Lovely Runner has been skyrocketing to fame thanks to its deft blending of emotions, romance, and fantasy. It stars Im Sol (Kim Hye-yoon), an ardent fan of superstar Ryu Sun-jae (Byeon), who, suffering a crippling accident, feels broken and resorts to Sun-jae’s music for solace. But then abruptly, Sun-jae dies, leaving Sol bereft. Inexplicably, she awakens in a schoolroom, fifteen years into her past, and senses this is her only shot to change destiny and save Sun-jae.

An A-list celebrity blessed with looks, skills, and charisma, ex-swimmer Sun-jae is now an actor and singer. His and Sol’s love defies time and space, spinning in loops as the girl seeks to save the boy from his awful fate. She slips back and forth in time to alter the trajectory of incidents, while Sun-jae persists in putting his life on the line for Sol. 

Byeon’s strongest suit appears to be romance. He cuts out the ideal boyfriend who can go out of his way for the girl he loves. His desirable, passionate looks and agreeable on-screen disposition accentuate those unique qualities, and how he creates heart-fluttering romantic scenes with Kim further solidifies his effectiveness as a romantic hero.