Jang Hang-jun's The King's Warden (2026) featuring Yoo Hae-jin has taken the Korean box office by storm having surpassed the all-important milestone of 10 million admissions becoming the first Korean film to do so in two years. It remains strong and is on course to be one of Korea's most viewed films at the box office. At the time of writing, it has accumulated 11.7m tickets. Following a very weak 2025 at the box office that saw admissions barely surpass 100m in total (compared to over 200m in 2019) it provides the industry with some much-needed optimism.

The historical film centers on the relationship between the young, deposed King Danjong (Park Ji-hoon) who has been exiled to a remote part of Korea, and a local village chief (Yoo). Set in the 15th century the period film has sparked a great deal of interest in the King who was put to death at the age 16, and many viewers have flocked to the county of Yeongwol in Gangwon Province where the film is set.

The success of the film also highlights the remarkable box office draw Yoo Hae-jin continues to hold. There are indeed various factors behind the popularity of the film, but the film wouldn't have worked as well as it has done without his irreplicable persona at the heart of it. The film's bromance – a common thread in Korean cinema – between the king and Yoo's endearing character is one of its key attributes.

Exhuma (2024)

The Emergence of Yoo Hae-jin in Early Years of Contemporary Korean Cinema

Born in 1970, Yoo Hae-jin made his film debut in the 1990s as the Korean film industry was entering a new era. Although he debuted as one of the leads in Chung Ji-young's Blackjack (1997) he was often playing smaller roles that would come to characterize his early career sometimes playing gangsters as he did in the vibrant and pulsating Attack the Gas Station (1999) that would capture the energy of this period and the way in which younger directors were breaking the rules.

Yoo also played a thug in the popular Public Enemy series directed by Kang Woo-suk. His entrance in Public Enemy (2002) in which he jumps out of motel window as he is pursued by detectives was emblematic of his career in which he always makes his presence felt. When later questioned his character's extraverted personality and Jeolla dialect immediately captures audience's attention as he able to transform a scene.

The three films (Public Enemy, Another Public Enemy (2005) and Public Enemy Returns (2008)) would all perform robustly at the box office collectively selling over 10 million tickets. While his role in the second film was smaller Yoo was no stranger to commercial success at the beginning of his acting career.

In the 2000s Yoo also starred in Lee Joon-ik's The King and the Clown (2005) that sold over 12 million tickets becoming his first film to enter the so-called 10 million ticket club. Yoo also played a key role as the quick-talking gambler bringing his comedic flair in Choi Dong-hoon's Tazza: The High Rollers (2006) that would amass close to 6 million tickets. He would work with Choi Dong-hoon again on his next project: Jeon Woo-chi: The Taoist Wizard (2009), which sold more than six million tickets.

Veteran (2015)

Yoo Takes on Leading Roles in 2010s

The 2010s saw further success for Yoo as he continued to feature in films that performed well at the box office and were critically embraced by critics. He played key roles in Ryoo Seung-wan's The Unjust (2010) and Veteran (2015) with the latter attracting more than 13 million viewers. He also returned in the Tazza sequel: Tazza: The Hidden Card (2014) directed by Kang Hyoung-chul.

It was in 2016 that his box office power was fully tested when he finally secured top billing for the comedy Luck-Key (2016) that was based on the Japanese film Key of Life (2012). In the feature he plays a lethal contract killer who wakes up with amnesia after slipping in a bathhouse and comes to think he is an unsuccessful actor when the lockers at the sauna are switched.

The film was a sleeper hit pulling in close to 7 million viewers cementing Yoo's place as one of Korea's leading actors along with Ryoo Seung-ryong whose career shares some parallels with Yoo having started out as actors together in the 1990s and 2000s and then rising up the billing order. The pair also both studied at Seoul Institute of the Arts.

Yoo would continue to impress in the second half of the 2010s with impactful roles in films dealing with the tumultuous 1980s: A Taxi Driver (2017) and 1987: When the Day Comes (2017). He would also team up with Hyun Bin in the action-comedy Confidential Assignment (2017) making 2017 another great year for the actor with the three films collectively amassing over 27 million tickets.

1987: When the Day Comes (2017)

Yoo Remains Popular Despite Industry Contraction

The early 2020s brought about immense uncertainty with the Covid-19 pandemic and the rise of the streaming platforms. The Korean film industry has contracted by about 50 percent and the star power of once bankable actors like Song Kang-ho, Ha Jung-woo and Kim Yoon-seok isn't what it was. The star system has had to evolve with the world of streaming and even Song Kang-ho has turned to limited series with Uncle Samsik (2024).

Yet Yoo has bucked the trend and remained a draw. Six out of the nine films he has played a leading role in since 2020 have performed to strong numbers. Confidential Assignment 2: International (2022) accrued almost 7 million admissions despite being released in the middle of the pandemic while The Night Owl (2021) in which he plays a villainous king further stretching his persona sold over 3 million tickets in 2022. He once again featured in a "10 million ticket film" starring in Exhuma (2024) as an undertaker and played one of the leading roles in Yadang: The Snitch (2025), which was the second most successful film of 2025.

The Night Owl (2022)

He has now starred in five films that have sold over 10 million tickets and he is one of the few actors who hasn't felt the need yet to venture into streaming. He will be in theaters again later on this year starring as the lead in Hur Jin-ho's Assassins that turns to 1974 and the attempted assassination of President Park Chung-hee. Attention will turn to whether he can repeat the success of his other titles.

Confidential Assignment 2: International (2022)