Kang Ha-neul

Kang is known to be a serious professional and has been devoted to his work. He is easygoing and humble in his ways. He has a lot of time for his fans and likes making friends.

His name has been associated with Lee Ji Eun, who goes by the stage name IU. They worked together in ‘Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo’ and were spotted together before his compulsory military service.

He started his compulsory military service in the Military Police from September 2017 for 21 months.

Kang Ha-neul was born Kim Ha-neul on February 21, 1990 in Busan, South Korea. His father was a folk singer who taught him how to sing and play the guitar at a young age. Both his parents were involved in the South Korean entertainment industry. He has a younger brother who has also joined show business.

During his childhood Kang was overweight and became conscious of his obesity. He started regular workouts and a strict diet to get into shape by the time he finished high school.

He wanted to follow his parent’s footsteps and did his degree in Theatre from Chung-Ang University. He was 16 when he first appeared in South Korean theatre as Jang Young-shil in the musical ‘The Celestial Watch’. The following year he took time out from his studies to act in the television serial ‘My Mom! Super Mom!’ as well as the play ‘Carpe Diem’. He also appeared in ‘Fly to the Sky’ music video ‘Still Pretty Today’ while he was in college.

During his university days he took an active part in the university cultural activities and caught the attention of producers and directors from the South Korean film and television industry.

His career in theatre got a boost in 2010 when he was selected for an important role in the musical ‘Thrill Me’ based on the true story of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb who commit the perfect crime. His performance was appreciated and it was followed by the musical ‘Assassins’ in 2012, which is about attempts to assassinate the President of the United States of America.

Kang moved from theatre to the big screen and appeared as Yeon Namsan in the South Korean war comedy film titled ‘Battlefield Heroes’ directed by Lee Joon-ik in 2011. The film was screened at the New York Asian Film Festival and the Fantasia Festival where it received positive reviews.

During this period he also hit the small screen with his role as Kim Jong-hwi in the television serial ‘Hometown Over the Hill’ and Yang Chang-soo in ‘Midnight Hospital’. His other television serial ‘To the Beautiful You’ was aired in 2012.

In 2015, he had one of his busiest schedules as he was shooting for four films simultaneously along with his role as Lee Jung-soo in the television serial ‘Missing Noir M’. He also featured as the lead in the musical ‘Harold and Maude’.

He went on to star in the romantic comedy movie ‘Like for Likes’ as Lee Soo-ho in 2016. He also appeared on the popular television serials ‘Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo’ and ‘Entourage’ that were aired during prime time on SBS and tvN networks respectively.

His major films include ‘Battlefield Heroes’ (2011), ‘Mourning Grave’ (2014), ‘Empire of Lust’ and ‘Twenty’ (2015), ‘Like for Likes’ (2016) and ‘Midnight Runners’ (2017).

He has appeared in the television serials ‘My Mom! Super Mom!’, ‘Hometown Over the Hill’, ‘To the Beautiful You’, ‘Monstar’, ‘Two Weeks’, ‘Angel Eyes’, ‘Missing Noir M’ and ‘Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo’.

He was a cast member in the reality show ‘Youth Over Flowers’ on tvN in 2016.

His credits in theatre include ‘The Celestial Watch’ (2006), ‘Spring Awakening’ (2009), ‘Thrill Me’ (2010), ‘Assassins’ (2012) and ‘Harold and Maude’ (2015).