Do You Know Jung Hae-In?

By Jae-Ha Kim
Kocowa.com
June 10, 2019

You probably know of Jung Hae-in from K-Dramas such as “Something in the Rain” (also known as “Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food”), “Guardian: The Lonely and Great God” and “While You Were Sleeping.” His latest series is “One Spring Night,” where he plays a single dad and pharmacist.

But how well do you really know the hot actor? For instance, do you know where this video still is from? (I’ll fill you in later.)

Name: Jung Hae-in / 정해인

Birthday: April 1, 1988 (31 years old)

Debut: Like many actors, Jung got his acting start in music videos. In 2013, baby-faced Jung (above photo) appeared in AOA Black’s music video for “Moya.” The following year, he made his K-Drama debut in “Bride of the Century” and followed that up with “The Three Musketeers.” He also acted in indie film, “The Youth.”

Followup roles: Casting agents started to buzz about the handsome young actor. In 2015, he landed a small role in Park Bo-Gum‘s “Reply 1988.” And in 2016, he appeared as Kim Go-eun’s crush in two episodes of “Guardian: The Lonely and Great God.” He played a college baseball star who was the female lead’s first love. His character was handsome and charismatic enough that the Goblin (played by Gong Yoo) became ridiculously jealous. I love Gong Yoo, but since Kim’s character was just 18, I kinda/sorta wanted her to have a love interest who was closer to her age — rather than a 900-year-old goblin (even if he looks like Gong Yoo). In 2017, Jung took a larger role in the MBC series, “Night Light.”

But it was Jung’s portrayal of police officer Han Woo-tak in “While You Were Sleeping” that really resonated with K-Drama viewers. In that 2017 series, Jung suffered from second lead syndrome (to Lee Jong-suk). I’m not going to lie. Bae Suzy could’ve ended up with either Jung or Lee and I would’ve been happy, because both played characters who were stand-up men. And both would’ve made great partners for her. (You can watch this series  here by subscribing to KOCOWA.)

Jung has already won a slew of awards, including:

🏆 SBS Drama Awards: New Star Award for “That’s The Way It Is.” (2016)

🏆 Baeksang Arts Awards: Most Popular Actor for his work in “Prison Playbook,” where he portrayed a wrongfully imprisoned commanding officer. (2017)

🏆 APAN Star Awards: Excellence Award for actor in a miniseries, for his work in “Something in the Rain.” (2017)

🏆 Asia Artist Awards: Artist of the Year for his overall work. (2018)

Do any of you remember last year when Yoo Jae-suk was teasing Lee Kwang-soo, saying that he needs to get more popular like Jung? I wish that everything would align and that the variety series could get Jung to appear on at least one episode of “Running Man.” But he’s so in demand with all his dramas that lack of time really is the issue.

But viewers still can enjoy his guest appearance on “Home Alone,” where  Na Rae had her chance to fangirl and flirt with the affable actor, who took it all in stride.