“Is This Your Best?” — Then He Chose the Marines

Part 2 of 3 in The Man Who Opened Three K-Drama Eras: Hyun Bin

Featured photo: Hyun Bin at the press conference for Fatal Encounter, May 2, 2014. Photo: Wooyeon724 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped).

Last time: Hyun Bin debuted as a nameless stalker, captured half of Korea as “Sam-sik,” then spent four years picking only difficult roles before returning to romance. I’ll be honest: what made me truly fall for Hyun Bin wasn’t only Kim Joo-won from Secret Garden. It was the choice that came right after, when a 28-year-old who had everything picked the hardest road there was.

Winter 2010: a department-store boss in a tracksuit

SBS’s Secret Garden, which began in November 2010, was a fantasy romance by writer Kim Eun-sook. Hyun Bin played Kim Joo-won, an arrogant department-store CEO; Ha Ji-won played stuntwoman Gil Ra-im, with Yoon Sang-hyun and Kim Sa-rang alongside. In a story where the two leads swap bodies, he packed arrogance, comedy and melodrama into a single character.

4.7 million views as of Oct. 25, 2026.

Kim Joo-won’s lines — “Is this your best? Are you sure?” and “Since when were you this pretty, Gil Ra-im?” — became catchphrases across Korea that winter (OSEN). His sparkly tracksuit became a sensation too, and his face was everywhere from newspapers to TV, giving rise to the term “Hyun Bin Syndrome” (Wikipedia). “That Man,” the theme song he sang himself, hit No. 1 on eight Korean music sites (same source). The finale on January 16, 2011, drew 35.2% (Nielsen Korea, nationwide; Xports News), and he took the top excellence award at the SBS Drama Awards and Gallup Korea’s Television Actor of the Year for 2011 (Wikipedia).

3.5 million views as of Oct. 25, 2026.

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February 2011: the Berlin red carpet

Right after Secret Garden ended, he was in Germany. Two of his films — Come Rain, Come Shine (with Lim Soo-jung) and Late Autumn (with Tang Wei) — were invited to the 61st Berlin International Film Festival at the same time (Wikipedia). He called that red carpet his “happiest achievement” (same source). Of Late Autumn, shot in Seattle, The Hollywood Reporter wrote that “it is Hyun who impresses more for not underplaying the dandy, narcissistic side of his personality.” In China the film earned more than $9.5 million in two weeks, then the best ever for a Korean film released there (Wikipedia, citing Korean Film Biz Zone).

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

March 7, 2011: 1,000 people in Pohang

The 28-year-old who had just become the king of romance, a Berlin actor and a No. 1 singer all at once chose his next destination: the Marines. Military service is mandatory for Korean men, but they can apply to choose their branch, and the Marine Corps is known for the harshest training. He volunteered and beat 4-to-1 odds to get in (Wikipedia).

On March 7, 2011, about 1,000 fans and reporters gathered outside the Marine Corps training center in Pohang, about 500 of them fans from Japan, Hong Kong and China (Korea JoongAng Daily, March 7, 2011). Seven broadcasters, including Japan’s NHK, asked to film at the camp (Wikipedia). Two months later, on May 26, the 47th Baeksang Arts Awards gave Hyun Bin the TV Grand Prize for Secret Garden. He was not in the room (OSEN; Wikipedia).

40,000 views as of Oct. 25, 2026.

2011–2012: top marksman on Baengnyeongdo

In training he became a top marksman, one of just 16 out of roughly 720 recruits (Wikipedia, citing Korean reports). The Corps first planned to put him on public relations duty, but after his wish to serve on the front line became known, he was posted to Baengnyeongdo, an island near the maritime border with North Korea (same source). When he was discharged on December 6, 2012, he received commendations from the Minister of National Defense and the Marine Corps Commandant. A Marine official explained: “Even though he’s a top actor, he never held back, and maybe because he was older, he was always humble and good to both his superiors and juniors.” (Herald Corporation, Dec. 6, 2012) Every time I read that line as a fan, I sit up a little straighter.

2014–2016: the reviews waiting for King Jeongjo

His comeback was his first period film. In The Fatal Encounter, released April 30, 2014, he played King Jeongjo, a monarch surrounded by assassination plots, alongside Jung Jae-young and Jo Jung-suk. The film drew 3.84 million moviegoers (Korean Film Council box office data, via 2014 midyear reports).

77,000 views as of Oct. 25, 2026.

The reviews were colder than the numbers. Harsh press notices poured in after the critics’ screening, and his performance was faulted for flat delivery and too little emotion (Wikipedia). He defended the film instead of himself: “Whether it’s fun or not aside, ours is a good film.” (fn Star, May 20, 2014) His next drama, Hyde Jekyll, Me (2015, with Han Ji-min), didn’t spark a Secret Garden-style craze either. For a few years, people even asked whether Hyun Bin’s era was over. I remember those years differently: as the time he quietly held on. Defending the film he made with others instead of his own performance is still so very Hyun Bin.

In January 2016 he founded his own agency, VAST Entertainment, and in February posed with a retired search-and-rescue dog named Vision for a campaign against animal cruelty (Wikipedia). Then he decided to change genres. Cast as a North Korean detective, he wanted to get close to the senior actor he’d be working with before cameras rolled. One day in 2016, he rang the doorbell at actor Yoo Hae-jin’s home.

Where to watch (checked Oct. 25, 2026, via JustWatch) – Secret Garden (2010): US — Netflix, Viki · Korea — Netflix, Watcha – Late Autumn (2011): Korea — Netflix, Watcha – The Fatal Encounter (2014): US — Tubi (free) · Korea — Netflix, Wavve – Hyde Jekyll, Me (2015): US & Korea — Netflix

Sources

• Wikipedia, “Hyun Bin” (citing The Hollywood Reporter, Korean Film Biz Zone, Gallup Korea, and Korean reports on his enlistment, marksmanship, posting, VAST and campaign)
• Xports News, Jan. 17, 2011 (Secret Garden finale 35.2%); OSEN (47th Baeksang Arts Awards)
• Korea JoongAng Daily, March 7, 2011; Herald Corporation, Dec. 6, 2012
• OSEN, 2014 midyear box office; fn Star, May 20, 2014