He Handed Out Flyers as a Boy. Then Dior Homme Put Him on a Paris Runway

Part 1 of 6 in The Man Dior Saw First: Kim Young-kwang

Featured photo: Kim Young-kwang at a fan meeting in Shinagawa, Tokyo, October 2017. Photo: Kazoo3131 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped).

October 2026: No. 3 on Netflix in three days

Netflix’s Take Charge of My Heart premiered on October 9, 2026. Within three days it was the No. 3 non-English show in the world and in the Top 10 in 44 countries (MHN, Oct. 22, 2026). In its second week it climbed to No. 2 with 6.4 million views, and its Top 10 list grew to 64 countries, from Argentina and Poland to Thailand and Vietnam (Wikitree, Oct. 22, 2026, citing Netflix’s official Top 10). The chaebol heir whose artificial heart keeps running out of battery is played by Kim Young-kwang, now in his 20th year in the business. I’ll be honest: when I saw that ranking, I clapped all by myself. An actor who has kept walking for twenty years without ever stopping is finally being properly discovered by the whole world.

1.25 million views as of Oct. 25, 2026.

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A face that went from the runway to a serial killer

In Korea, Kim Young-kwang is the defining case of a model who became a real actor. He was the first Korean male model to walk at all four of the world’s major fashion weeks, and the first Asian model ever to walk for Dior Homme (Newsen, July 2, 2009; Wikitree, Oct. 22, 2026). As an actor he has won the Baeksang Arts Awards’ best new film actor prize in 2019 and the KBS Drama Awards’ top excellence prize in 2025.

The beauty people remember is the line drawn by a 190cm (6’3″) frame, and a boyish grin that doesn’t seem to belong to it. Fashion magazines called him a “pictorial master” (L’Officiel Korea official video, 2017). Entertainment outlets now call him a “rom-com god” (Top Star News, Oct. 23, 2026). He once answered the claim that he looks cold this way: “Because I started as a model, some people see me as urban and icy. That’s a real misunderstanding.” (Hankook Ilbo, Aug. 28, 2018)

His range is wide. Paris and Milan runways. Commercials for ramen, soju and chocolate. Music videos for Lee Seung-hwan and 2NE1’s Park Bom. A drama theme song he sang himself. The first-love lead of romantic comedies, a serial killer in Netflix’s Somebody, an arms broker in Trigger. Survival in Antarctica on Law of the Jungle, and his own apartment on I Live Alone. On December 19 he holds a fan meeting, “GLORY ON,” in Tokyo (Maxmovie, Oct. 20, 2026), and in 2027 he leads ENA’s drama Queen of Taming (Korean title Joryeon-ui Yeowang; Top Star News, Oct. 23, 2026).

1987, Incheon: a father gone too soon

Kim was born on January 11, 1987, in Incheon, the port city west of Seoul. His father was a Vietnam War veteran who died when Kim was in elementary school (Wikipedia, citing Chosun Ilbo English edition, Feb. 1, 2008).

He first spoke about those years on television much later. “My father passed away when I was young.” Money was tight from around sixth grade, he said, and he felt so sorry for his mother, who worked alone, that he took on part-time jobs from eighth grade. His first monthly paycheck from a gas station was 290,000 won, about $260. Handing out flyers paid 1,000 won per hundred sheets, less than a dollar (SBS Healing Camp, June 8, 2015). A fifteen-year-old who went to work because he felt sorry for his mom. Every time I read this part, I want to reach back and pat that boy on the shoulder.

70,000 views as of Oct. 25, 2026.

That boy graduated from Jeongseok Aviation High School in Incheon (Korean Wikipedia), a school where students learned to maintain aircraft.

2006: Seoul Collection at 20

He started modeling at 20 (Newspim, Jan. 23, 2015). His first show was “Lone Costume 06.07 F/W” at the Singles Seoul Collection in 2006 (Korean Wikipedia). The next year he shot a Hyundai Card commercial and appeared in music videos for singer Lee Seung-hwan and the band M.C the Max (same source).

June 2008: Dior Homme in Paris

In June 2008, at Paris Men’s Fashion Week, Kim Young-kwang walked in Dior Homme’s spring/summer 2009 show. He was the first Asian model on that runway (Korean Wikipedia; Newsen, July 2, 2009). In the same stretch he walked for Alexander McQueen, Etro, Vivienne Westwood and Wooyoungmi (Newsen, July 2, 2009).

Korea noticed fast. He won the Korean Fashion Photographers Association’s new model award in 2008, then a fashion model prize at the 2009 Asia Model Festival and the model category at the Style Icon Awards (Wikipedia). Ads followed: Bvlgari fragrance, L’Oréal, Samsung Anycall phones, and in 2009, Ottogi’s Jin Ramen, one of Korea’s best-selling instant noodles.

9,200 views as of Oct. 25, 2026.

A few years after earning less than a dollar for a hundred flyers, the boy was standing on a runway in Paris. His next stop was supposed to be New York. He packed up his portfolio and went to the airport. The work visa never came (Newspim, Jan. 23, 2015).

Where to watch (checked Oct. 25, 2026, via JustWatch) – Take Charge of My Heart (2026): US & Korea — Netflix

Sources

• MHN, Oct. 22, 2026; Wikitree, Oct. 22, 2026
• Newsen, July 2, 2009
• Wikipedia, “Kim Young-kwang (actor)”; Korean Wikipedia
• Hankook Ilbo, Aug. 28, 2018; Top Star News, Oct. 23, 2026
• SBS Entertainment News, June 8, 2015; Newspim, Jan. 23, 2015
• Maxmovie, Oct. 20, 2026
• Currency: converted at roughly 1,130 won to the dollar (2000s average).