Lee Jong-suk Was the Lead. Viewers Got Second Lead Syndrome for Kim Young-kwang

Part 3 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).

In December 2013, Kim Young-kwang walked into the snowy Nonsan training center. Six months later he was back. And that winter, Korean viewers fell for a man who wasn’t the lead.

2013–2014: Six months his father left him

Military service is mandatory for Korean men, usually around 18 to 21 months. Kim served six months as a social service worker. That was the period the law set for him because his father was a Vietnam War veteran and a recognized national merit holder. He entered on December 12, 2013, and was discharged in June 2014 (Wikipedia, citing Sports Hankook, Dec. 17, 2013). Of everything his father, gone since Kim’s elementary-school years, left behind for his son, one thing was those six months.

Also read: Lee Jae-wook Was the Second Lead Viewers Picked. In Netflix's Dead-End Job, He Is the Lead

2014: Reunited with Kyung Soo-jin on Plus Nine Boys

Just before enlisting, he played Kyung Soo-jin’s boyfriend in the music video for Brown Eyed Soul’s “You.” Their chemistry got so much attention that tvN cast them as a couple again in 2014’s Plus Nine Boys (Wikitree, Oct. 22, 2026). Kim was 29-year-old Kang Jin-goo. A tvN compilation titled “Surprise Kiss Master Kim Young-kwang” has passed 900,000 views.

900,000 views as of Oct. 25, 2026.

38,000 views as of Oct. 25, 2026.

In the film Hot Young Bloods, released that January, he played Jo Gwang-sik in a story of high schoolers in 1980s rural Chungcheong province, with Lee Jong-suk and Park Bo-young. It won him the film rookie prize at the Korea Culture & Entertainment Awards (Korean Wikipedia).

298,000 views as of Oct. 25, 2026.

November 2014: Panned for three episodes

SBS’s Pinocchio premiered in November 2014 with Lee Jong-suk and Park Shin-hye as the leads. Kim played Seo Beom-jo, a chaebol son turned reporter who had the family, the looks and the talent. It started badly. For the first three episodes, reviews of his acting were not kind (Newspim, Jan. 23, 2015). He admitted it: “My acting teacher watched the broadcast and was shocked. I got chewed out big time.” (same source) I think that honesty is the most lovable thing about Kim Young-kwang. Few actors bring up the times they got scolded without trying to hide them.

The Beom-jo he wanted was not the usual rich heir. He was a man who “grew up with a lot of his mother’s love, so he’s sweet and affectionate.” Early on, Kim said, “that came across as a bit of a dopey character” (same source).

177,000 views as of Oct. 25, 2026.

Winter 2014: Second lead syndrome

By the middle of the run, the reaction had flipped. Viewers fell for Beom-jo, who followed the woman he loved into a TV network and stayed by her side after learning she loved someone else. One outlet grouped Kim with Park Bo-gum and Lee Tae-hwan under the headline “the new second-lead ache” (Financial News). English-speaking K-drama fans have a name for exactly this: second lead syndrome. A single wink he threw at Choi In-ha (Park Shin-hye) has been played more than 130,000 times. Full confession: I was one of the viewers who came down with a bad case of Seo Beom-jo that winter.

132,000 views as of Oct. 25, 2026.

92,000 views as of Oct. 25, 2026.

The finale on January 15, 2015, drew a 13.3% rating and won its time slot (Y Star, January 2015). At the SBS Drama Awards that year-end he took the New Star Award (Wikipedia).

2015: From “model-dol” to lead

When Pinocchio ended, people started calling model-turned-actors “model-dols,” a play on “idols” (Newspim, Jan. 23, 2015). Kim didn’t hide behind the label. That year he played trauma surgeon Lee Hae-sung in JTBC’s disaster medical drama D-Day, his first lead role (Wikitree, Oct. 22, 2026). In the web drama Dr. Ian he worked with 2NE1’s Sandara Park.

In June he went on SBS’s talk show Healing Camp and, for the first time, talked about working at a gas station and handing out flyers in middle school (SBS Entertainment News, June 8, 2015).

In 2016, he sang a drama theme song himself for the first time.

Where to watch (checked Oct. 25, 2026, via JustWatch) – Pinocchio (2014): US & Korea — Netflix · US — Rakuten Viki · Korea — Watcha – Plus Nine Boys (2014): US — Tubi (free) · Korea — TVING – Hot Young Bloods (2014): US — Rakuten Viki, Tubi (free) · Korea — Netflix, TVING

Sources

• Wikipedia, “Kim Young-kwang (actor)”; Korean Wikipedia
• Sports Hankook, Dec. 17, 2013
• Wikitree, Oct. 22, 2026
• Newspim, Jan. 23, 2015
• Financial News, “the new second-lead ache”; Y Star, January 2015
• SBS Entertainment News, June 8, 2015