| Yoon Kye-sang | |
|---|---|
| Hangul | 윤계상 |
| Hanja | 尹啓相 |
| Revised Romanization | Yun Gye-sang |
| McCune–Reischauer | Yun Kye-sang |
Yoon Kye-sang (born 20 December 1979) is a South Korean actor and former singer in boyband g.o.d..
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Yoon began his rise to fame as a member of South Korean pop music group g.o.d. which enjoyed huge popularity for over half a decade. However, he turned to acting in 2004,[1] making his film debut in Flying Boys, directed by Byeon Yeong-joo.[2] He made his television debut that same year in My 19 Year Old Sister in Law with Jung Da-bin.[3]
Yoon was called a "traitor" for leaving g.o.d. before the sixth album; they went on to release a seventh before disbanding in 2005.[4][5]
Yoon had to interrupt his career and depart from g.o.d. at the height of his popularity due to mandatory military service.[6] He was inducted into the Republic of Korea Army on 7 December 2004, assigned to the 102nd Reserves at Chuncheon, Gangwon-do, on the Korean Demilitarized Zone.[7] After completing basic training and serving there for some time, by 2006 was reassigned to duties as an "entertainment soldier", part of the new Korean Forces Network group in the army which provides television and radio broadcasts to soldiers, and also allows celebrities to maintain a public profile while completing their military service.[6] He was discharged from the army on 6 December 2006 at 8 AM. In an interview that day, he said that he had not slept the night before and was very tired, but looked forward to seeing his fans; he further stated that he planned to resume his career in 2007.[8]
As late as June 2011 his military service still earned him public attention, when a round-cheeked photo of him in uniform "went viral" among South Korean internet users. The photos received many amused comments for his then-fat cheeks, forming a sharp contrast with his more recent appearance.[9]
In January 2007, Yoon returned to show business in the SBS drama Crazy in Love as a gangster who falls in love with the widow (Lee Mi-yeon) of a man he'd accidentally killed.[10] The following year, he and Kim Haneul were cast in Lovers of Six Years, playing a couple in a six-year relationship. According to Kim, her initial perception of Yoon was that he was very shy, whereas Yoon perceived Kim as snobby, so it took them some time to break the ice and establish a good working relationship.[11] Later that year, he took a dual role in the comedy television series Who Are You?, playing a cold-hearted corporate raider who, in the aftermath of a traffic accident, becomes possessed by the spirit of a cheerful deliveryman for a few hours each day.[12] At the same time he also took a starring role along with Ha Jeong-woo in The Moonlight of Seoul, portraying a worker in a host club; Lee Hyo-won writing for the Korea Times praised him for his "gripping performance".[13]
In 2009, after doing a lighter role in the slice-of-life drama Triple,[14] Yoon starred in the movie The Executioner, which examined capital punishment in South Korea; it debuted at the 14th Busan International Film Festival. Yoon took the role of junior prison guard Jae-gyeong, who takes up his post after failing an examination, and unluckily finds himself assigned to carry out executions after the only other guard in the prison with such experience quits.[4][15] Just before the movie came out, he made controversial remarks in an interview with GQ Korea stating that the South Korean movie industry was dominated by leftists. As controversy rose among internet users over his remarks, he quickly made an apology for what he described as his "ignorance".[2] He also became part of the ensemble cast in Come, Closer, a 2010 omnibus feature that follows the broken relationships of five couples.[16][17]
After his highly anticipated big-budget Korean War drama Road No. 1, tanked in the ratings,[18][19] Yoon said he wanted to play a character "who gets loved by the public" and took on a supporting role as a sweet, kind doctor in romantic comedy The Greatest Love.[20][21]
The drama's success and Yoon's popularity in it helped bring attention to his next project, the low-budget, gritty indie Poongsan.[22] Director Juhn Jai-hong fought to cast Yoon against type as the titular taciturn messenger, saying that he'd been impressed by the piercing gaze Yoon had shown in previous films.[23] Calling it "a meaningful project", Yoon enjoyed the difficult acting challenge of telling the story only through his eyes, facial expressions and body movements.[24][25][26] He was rewarded with a Best Actor nomination from the Grand Bell Awards.[27]
Yoon next stars in the third season of popular sitcom High Kick!.[28]
Yoon is the youngest in his family, with an elder sister. He describes having been very embarrassed as a young boy having to run errands for his mother and elder sister such as buying tampons for them at the store.[11]
He began dating Sung Yu-ri of girl group Fin.K.L in 1999. The two initially did not admit their relationship, but it came to light due to photo booth sticker photos of the two together which found their way onto the internet. Yoon said that the six-year romance ended as he headed into military service, as both parties got busier and they naturally drifted apart.[29][4]