Im Sung-jae

Im Sung-jae is a South Korean actor whose warm face and natural acting have made him a favourite supporting player. He became widely known through Extraordinary Attorney Woo (2022) and The Worst of Evil (2023). Viewers remember his kind smile in gentle stories and his tougher side in crime dramas, a range that keeps growing.

Early life

Im Sung-jae was born on January 18, 1987, in South Korea. He came to acting as an adult and prepared step by step for a screen career. He made his film debut in Pure Love (2016) and spent the next years in small film and drama roles, slowly building a name as a reliable character actor.

Career and breakthrough

His breakthrough came with Extraordinary Attorney Woo (2022), where he played Kim Min-sik, the warm restaurant owner whose shop becomes a place of comfort in the story. The hit drama carried his face to audiences around the world. He then joined Black Knight (2023) and showed a much darker side in the crime series The Worst of Evil (2023).

Popular roles

In The Worst of Evil (2023), Im Sung-jae plays Choi Jeong-bae inside a dangerous drug crime world, acting far from his gentle image. In Extraordinary Attorney Woo, his Kim Min-sik is the opposite: soft, funny and kind. Playing both kinds of men so well in back-to-back hits proved his range and made casting directors trust him with bigger parts.

Recent work and why fans love him

He starred in the series Newtopia (2025) and joined The WONDERfools (2026) as Kang Ro-bin. Fans love Im Sung-jae because he feels like a real person from your own street. He does not chase attention, but the camera finds him anyway, and his honest acting quietly lifts every scene he is in.