Park Jeong-min

Park Jeong-min (; born March 24, 1987) is a South Korean actor, writer, and book publisher. Known as a prolific Chungmu-ro actor, he has starred in films such as Bleak Night, Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet (2016), Keys to the Heart (2018), Deliver Us from Evil (2020), Smugglers (2023), Uprising (2024), Harbin (2024) and The Ugly (2025). He is also the author of the best-selling book A Useful Person.

Early life and education In 2005, Park enrolled in Liberal Arts at the prestigious Korea University and subsequently dropped out with the intention to become a filmmaker. He then majored in film making at Korea National University of Arts, but later switched his major to acting after his military discharge.

Career 2011–2016: Early work and breakthrough In 2011, Park made his screen debut with the critically acclaimed independent film Bleak Night, for which he was nominated for Best New Actor at the 20th Buil Film Awards.

He started appearing in mainstream films when he scored minor roles in romantic comedy film Dancing Queen (2012), action drama film Fists of Legend (2013) and disaster film The Flu (2013). In 2014, he starred in another Korean Academy of Film Arts graduation project and independent film Tinker Ticker which premiered at the 26th Tokyo International Film Festival.

Park made his breakthrough and rose to prominence in 2016 with his performance in Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet as Song Mong-gyu, a cousin of the poet Yun Dong-ju who was known for his resistance writings during the Japanese occupation of Korea. His portrayal garnered him Best New Actor awards at the 52nd Baeksang Arts Awards, 37th Blue Dragon Film Awards, 36th Golden Cinema Festival, the Korea Film Actors Association Awards, 16th Director's Cut Awards, and a Best Supporting Actor award at the 22nd Chunsa Film Art Awards.

2017–present: Rising popularity and critical acclaim In 2017, Park returned to theater as Romeo in the Korean adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet with Moon Geun-young playing Juliet.

In 2018, he starred in the comedy-drama film Keys to the Heart as a gifted pianist with autism and savant syndrome. The same year, Park appeared in the superhero film Psychokinesis

In 2019, Park starred in occult horror film Svaha: The Sixth Finger For his portrayal, Park received numerous accolades including Best Supporting Actor awards at the 41st Blue Dragon Film Awards, 57th Baeksang Arts Awards, 40th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards, and 26th Chunsa Film Art Awards. He also wrote and directed a music video for "Reconnect" as part of a special project in celebration of Elle Koreas 28th anniversary.

In 2021, Park starred in drama film Miracle: Letters to the President and made his directorial debut with short film Unframed – Class Representative Election which premiered at the 26th Busan International Film Festival alongside Netflix original series Hellbound in which Park made his small screen comeback.

In 2023, he starred in action crime film Smugglers for which he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 60th Baeksang Arts Awards, 44th Blue Dragon Film Awards, 59th Grand Bell Awards, and 32nd Buil Film Awards.

In 2024, Park was cast in another Netflix original series The 8 Show based on the Naver webtoons Money Game and Pie Game by Bae Jin-soo. Later that year, he starred in Netflix original film Uprising which landed him a win and a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the 34th Buil Film Awards and 61st Baeksang Arts Awards respectively. He then appeared in sports drama film One Win and biographical period film Harbin where he portrayed South Korean independence activist Woo Deok-sun. Harbin topped the South Korean box office for four weeks following its release and garnered Park a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the 46th Blue Dragon Film Awards.

In 2025, he starred in the zombie comedy series Newtopia, marking his third project with director Yoon Sung-hyun. Following the filming of action spy film Humint where he plays the role of a North Korean agent, Park effectively took a hiatus from all acting activities to focus on his book publishing career.

Later that year, Park's first dual role film The Ugly made its premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. Due to the film's low-budget nature, it had a three week filming period with 20 crew members and he appeared in the film without receiving an appearance fee. Nevertheless, the film achieved huge commercial success and became the eleventh South Korean film of the year to surpass 1 million admissions. For his leading role in the film, Park received the 62nd Baeksang Arts Award for Best Actor – Film and became the first person in Baeksang Arts Awards history to win every film acting category. He also won Best Actor at the 45th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards and received nominations in the same category at the 46th Blue Dragon Film Awards and the 24th Director's Cut Awards.

Other activities Writing In 2014, Park became a writer of a monthly column for magazine Topclass and established a following of devoted readers. His column is called "Eonhee", which means "to make others happy through words".

Park also owned a bookstore called Book, Night, Day in Hapjeong-dong, Seoul which opened in 2019.

In 2022, he joined Baedal Minjok's newsletter The Taste of Living These Days as a columnist. In 2024, he was recruited as a contributor to the We Love Poetry newsletter where his self-written poems were published.

Book publishing At the end of 2020, Park established Muze, his own book publishing company. He became the editor of the first book published by the company titled Saving Work by journalist Kim So-young, a book which discusses animal rights. Park states that he aims to publish books about the marginalized as well as matters which are disregarded by the society.

Park became the executive producer of the audiobook which stars Go Min-si, Yum Jung-ah, Kim Do-hoon, Choi Yang-rak, Kim Eui-sung and many others. Departing from the conventional practice of releasing print editions first, the audiobook version was completed and distributed ahead of the print release. Copies of the audiobook were donated to the National Library for the Disabled and other institutions serving visually impaired communities. Momo Salon Chang-gyun

Heartbreak Hotel Chen

Office Lee Won-suk

Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet Song Mong-gyu

Pure Love Yong-soo

Horror Stories 3 Dong-geun Segment: "Road Rage"

The King Heo Ki-hoon

The Artist: Reborn Jae-bum

The King's Case Note Crown Prince Uikyung Cameo

Keys to the Heart Jin-tae

Psychokinesis Kim Jung-hyun

Sunset in My Hometown Hak-soo

Svaha: The Sixth Finger Na-han

Tazza: One Eyed Jack Do Il-chul

Start-Up Go Taek-il

Time to Hunt Sang-soo

Deliver Us from Evil Yui

Moving On Narrator Barrier-free version

Miracle: Letters to the President Jung Jun-kyung

Decision to Leave San-oh Cameo

Another Record: Lee Je-hoon Himself Documentary

One Win Kang Jeong-won

Smugglers Jang Do-ri

Dr. Cheon and Lost Talisman Fairy shaman Cameo

Uprising Jong-ryeo

Harbin Woo Deok-soon

Love Untangled Pedestrian Cameo

The Ugly Im Dong-hwan / young Im Young-gyu Dual role

Humint Park Geon

A Mark Against Thee Choi Yeop

Short film Year Title Cast Notes 2007 The End of the World Boy 2009 Lovers Ho-young 2010 Study Group 2011 The Cap of Fools Park Jeong-min 2021 Unframed – Class Representative Election Kim Dam-ho Kang Ji-seok Park Hyo-eun Park Seung-joon As director and scriptwriter 2022 Life Is But A Dream The Swordsman

Television series Year Title Role Notes 2011 KBS Drama Special:Human Casino Cha Tae-oh One-act drama 2012 Feast of the Gods Jang Mi-so Golden Time Jang Young-woo 2013 Puberty Medley Shin Young-bok 2014 You're All Surrounded Ji Gook Righteous Love Jang Ki-tae 2015 Reply 1988 Sung Bo-ra's boyfriend Cameo (episode 8–9) 2016 Entourage Lee Ho-jin 2018 Mr. Sunshine Ahn Chang-ho Cameo (episode 22) 2021 Hellbound Bae Young-jae 2022 Shooting Stars Park Jo-eun Cameo (episode 1) 2024 The 8 Show Yoo Phillip Light Shop Kim Young-tak Cameo (episode 8) 2025 Newtopia Lee Jae-yoon 2027 A Man's Man Han Yu Hyeon

Music video appearances Year Song Title Artist 2012 "Butterfly" Sunjungsun 2018 "With the Heart to Forget You" IU "Byunsan Monologue" Park Jung-min (Feat. Kim Go-eun, Yankee) 2019 "I'm Always You" Lee Seung Hwan 2020 "Reconnect for the Gone" Code Kunst, Simon Dominic, Choi Jung-hoon 2022 "Because We Loved" Kang Min-kyung and Choi Jung-hoon "Jotto" Bibi 2023 "I Want That" (G)I-dle 2024 "Beginning and End" Park Won "Sky, Hands, Balloons" Cloud koh 2025 "Good Goodbye" Hwasa

Theater + Theater play performances Year Title Role Venue Date English Korean 2011 Kisaragi Miki-chan Snake Culturespace N.U June 9 – August 7 Ansan Culture and Arts Center Dalmaji Theater September 24–25 2012–2013 Culturespace N.U November 29 – February 24 2013 Garden Five Art Hall April 5–14 2014 The Escape of G-Code G코드의 탈출 Man Theater Lab Hyehwa-dong 1 February 18–23 2016–2017 Romeo and Juliet 로미오와 줄리엣 Romeo National Theater Daloreum Theater December 9–January 13 2017 Gunpo Culture and Arts Center Suri Hall (Grand Performance Hall) January 21–22 Woosong Arts Center Daejeon February 4–5 Suseong Artpia Paper Hall Daegu February 23–24 Andong Culture and Arts Center Woongbu Hall February 25–26 2025–2026 Life of Pi 라이프 오브 파이 Pi GS Arts Center December 2–March 2 Asia Model Awards 2018 Popular Star Award Park Jeong-min Asian Film Awards 2021 Best Supporting Actor Deliver Us from Evil Asian Television Awards 2025 Best Actor in a Leading Role Newtopia Baeksang Arts Awards 2016 Best New Actor – Film Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet 2021 Best Supporting Actor – Film Deliver Us from Evil 2024 Smugglers 2025 Uprising 2026 Best Actor – Film The Ugly Blue Dragon Film Awards 2016 Best New Actor Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet 2021 Best Supporting Actor Deliver Us from Evil 2023 Smugglers 2025 Harbin Best Actor The Ugly Buil Film Awards 2011 Best New Actor Bleak Night 2016 Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet Best Supporting Actor 2020 Deliver Us from Evil 2023 Smugglers 2025 Uprising Busan Film Critics Awards 2018 Best Actor Sunset in My Hometown Chunsa Film Art Awards 2017 Best Supporting Actor Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet 2021 Deliver Us from Evil ContentAsia Awards 2025 Best Male Lead in a TV Programme/Series Made in Asia Newtopia Director's Cut Awards 2016 Best New Actor Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet 2022 Best Actor (TV Series) Hellbound 2026 Best Actor (Film) The Ugly Golden Cinema Festival 2016 Best New Actor Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet Grand Bell Awards 2013 Fists of Legend 2023 Best Supporting Actor Smugglers Korea Film Actors Association Awards 2016 Best New Actor Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet Korean Association of Film Critics Awards 2020 Best Supporting Actor Deliver Us from Evil 2025 Best Actor The Ugly Wildflower Film Awards 2017 Best Actor Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet