Uhm Ki-joon

Uhm Ki-joon is a South Korean actor and top musical theatre star. On television, he is famous for playing rich, cruel villains that viewers love to hate. His biggest role is Joo Dan-tae in The Penthouse (2020), one of the most successful Korean dramas of recent years.

Uhm Ki-joon is 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) tall and weighs about 67 kg, according to his published profile.

Early life

Uhm Ki-joon was born in Seoul, South Korea, in 1976. He loved singing and acting from a young age and debuted on the musical stage in 1995. Over the next decade, he became one of the biggest names in Korean musicals, leading hit shows such as Werther. His Instagram name, werther777, still honours that famous role.

Career and breakthrough

Television viewers first met a softer Uhm Ki-joon as the kind music teacher Kang Oh-hyuk in Dream High (2011). He later played the genius scientist Hong Baek-gyeon in I Am Not a Robot (2017). But it was his dark roles that made him a star name in almost every Korean home.

Popular roles

As Joo Dan-tae in The Penthouse (2020), Uhm Ki-joon created one of the most hated villains in K-drama history: a rich, violent and clever man who would do anything for power. The show's three seasons were huge hits, and his performance won major awards. He returned to dark territory as Park Jae-sang in Little Women (2022).

Recent work and why fans love them

In The Escape of the Seven (2023), he played the mysterious Matthew Lee, adding another stylish villain to his list. Fans love the contrast in him: on screen he is cold and scary, but on variety shows he is shy, funny and kind. That gap makes him one of Korea's most interesting actors.