Kang Tae-oh’s enlistment D-17 and Seo Kang-joon’s discharge D-262…A popularity baton exchange between male actors
Male actors’ popularity is about to be reversed soon.
Kang Tae-oh, who is boasting the highest value, will enlist at the end of this month. On the contrary, Seo Kang-joon will return to his civilian status about 6 months later. Seo Kang-joon, who has steadily accumulated popularity and his own filmography since debut, seems to be taking over Kang Tae-oh’s popularity.
Kang Tae-oh directly delivered his enlistment schedule to fans at the online fan meeting “TikTok Stage Connect: SweeTaeOh” held on August 31st. He told fans, “I received a call from the country. The date is September 20th. I’m going to fulfill my military duty.”
He will receive basic military training and serve as an active-duty soldier. At the fan meeting that day, Kang Tae-oh sang “Thanks” by singer-songwriter Kim Dong-ryul. He said, “I’m grateful to the fans who will wait for me.”
Kang Tae-oh was loved by viewers by playing the role of Lee Joon-ho through ENA’s Wednesday-Thursday drama “Extraordinary Attorney Woo“, which recently ended with a syndrome-level popularity. In the drama, he approached Woo Young-woo (Park Eun-bin), a person with autism spectrum disorder, without prejudice and unfolded a warm love story, receiving a lot of love from viewers. His line “I’m disappointed” when Woo Young-woo, who is insensitive to other people’s emotions, did not know his heart became a hot topic. Accordingly, he was called “disappointed guy“.
The drama is evaluated to have contributed to Hallyu’s spread by topping Netflix Korea as well as Netflix’s drama category. Kang Tae-oh, who contributed greatly to this, recently took home the Seoul City Council Chairman Award at the 4th Newsis K-Expo. In particular, he grew significantly in the topicality category. He enjoyed extreme popularity by ranking first in terms of drama cast topicality for 5 consecutive weeks.
There were numerous love calls after “Extraordinary Attorney Woo”, but Kang Tae-oh will join the army to fulfill his military duty. Expectations are continuing for his performance after being discharged from the military.
Seo Kang-joon is likely to be the star who will continue Kang Tae-oh’s syndrome-level popularity. The two debuted as members of Fantagio’s first actor group “5urprise” in the past and are still under the same agency.
Seo Kang-joon, who was the first to raise awareness in the group, is properly starting his return even before he was discharged. He boasts a popularity that does not cool down despite the so-called “militatus” (a hiatus due to military service).
In Disney+’s original series “Grid”, which was recently released, he played Kim Sae-ha, an employee of the Grid Bureau who does everything to pursue the truth. Seo Kang-joon led the drama by stacking up the emotional lines one by one. He also held the center of the work by perfectly playing the role of a “key player” who connects and understands new baits and ever-changing developments. Seo Kang-joon did not miss any of his lines, emotions and atmosphere, but above all, his unique eyes conveyed the character’s inner side.
Just as Kang Tae-oh inherited the popularity that started from Seo Kang-joon through “Extraordinary Attorney Woo”, now it is time for Seo Kang-joon, who will soon be discharged, to continue. It is expected that the two, who have risen to the rank of “box office must-win cards”, will continue to be on the rise as years go by.
Source: Naver
