Korean Actor, Kim Myung-gon Profile and Facts

Kim Myung-gon

Kim Myung-gon is South Korea’s actor. Aside as an actor, he is also a screenwriter, music director, theater director, and theater producer. Kim began his career in entertainment industry since 1983. His first work was The Green Pine Tree that was airing in 1983. In the same year, he also directed a song called Jealousy.

Kim Myung-gon got a lot of attention and recognition from public due to his role in a movie called Seopyeonje in 1993. That movie made him got best actor award from 14th Blue Dragon Film Awards in 1994.

Kim Myung-gon as a Pansori Performer and Instructor

Kim Myung-gon

Kim Myung-gon is a pansori performer. Pansori is sometimes referred to as ‘Korean Opera’ or ‘Korean Epic Chant’. Generally, it’s described as a form of musical storytelling, featuring the vocals of a single singer and an additional drummer.  He was chairman of the organizing committee of the Jeonju International Sori Festival (Sound of Voice & Music) from 2009 to 2010.

Kim is also an instructor. He taught Theater and Film at Woosuk University from 1997 to 1998, then taught Theater as a visiting professor at Korea National University of Arts in 1999.

Kim Myung-gon’s Profile

Kim Myung-gon

Name : Kim Myung-gon (김명곤)

Birth Place : Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, South Korea

Birth Date : December 3, 1952

Occupation : Actor, screenwriter, music director, theater director, theater producer, and pansori performer

Education : Seoul National Univerity –  German Language Education (1976)

Dongguk University Graduate School of Communication & Information (1985)


Kim Myung-gon’s Works

Kim Myung-gon

Kim Myung-gon works in entertainment industry since 1983. He has a lot of occupations in entertainment industry. He started his career as an actor and a music director in 1983. In 1986, he founded Arirang Theater Company. He was active in 1986 until 1999. In 2000, he became a president of the National Theater of Korea until 2005. Kim spread his career as a screenwriter in 1993.

Here is the list of Kim Myung-gon’s Filmography

Kim Myung-gon’s Filmography as an Actor

Kim Myung-gon has starred in 34 titles since his debut in 1983. He was debut in a movie called The Green Pine Tree. In 1984, he appeared in two movies Widow Dance and Declaration of Fools. After that, he kept appear in at least one movie every year. Kim got his name as one of the legend actor in South Korea.

Kim latest project as an actor was Misty. The drama is about an popular anchorwoman, Go Hye Ran (Kim Nam Joo) is suspected of murder. Her husband, Kang Tae Wook (Ji Jin Hee) who is a prosecutor-turned-public defender, decides to defend her. Through the process of fighting the murder charge, the couple grows closer again. Kim acted as Jung Dae Han.

  1. Misty (TV, 2018)
  2. Steel Rain (2017)
  3. Live Up to Your Name (TV, 2017)
  4. The Scholar Who Walks the Night (TV, 2015)
  5. The King’s Face (TV, 2014)
  6. The Admiral: Roaring Currents (2014)
  7. Mango Tree (2013)
  8. Masquerade (2012)
  9. Bridal Mask (TV, 2012)
  10. King Sejong the Great (TV, 2008)
  11. My Heart (2000)
  12. A+ Life (1998)
  13. The Bait (1998)
  14. Wind Echoing in My Being (1997)
  15. 48 + 1 (1995)
  16. Declaration of Genius (1995)
  17. The Taebaek Mountains (1994)
  18. In a Handful of Time (1993)
  19. A Casual Trip (1994)
  20. The Eternal Empire (1994)
  21. Seopyeonje (1993)
  22. Myong-Ja Akiko Sonia (1992)
  23. Fly High Run Far (1991)
  24. Ggok-Ji-Ddan (1990)
  25. Kot-ji (1990)
  26. The Man with Three Coffins (1988)
  27. Hello Im Kuk-jeong (1987)
  28. A Wanderer Never Stops on the Road (1987)
  29. Seoul Emperor (1986)
  30. Kod-ji (1986)
  31. Eoh Wu-dong (1985)
  32. Declaration of Fools (1984)
  33. Widow Dance (1984)
  34. The Green Pine Tree (1983)

Kim Myung-gon’s Filmography as a Screenwriter


Kim began his career as screenwriter through a musical drama film called Seopyeonje in 1993. The story is about a family of traditional Korean singer “pansori” trying to make a living in a modern world. The movie hit success and broke box-office records. The movie got over a million viewers in Seoul alone.  It also getting screened in Cannes Film Festival and winning six Grand Bell Awards and six Korean Film Critics’ Awards.

After his successful debut as a screenwriter, Kim participated again in another movie called A Casual Trip in 1994. In 2000, he was a script editor for a movie called Chunhyang. The movie hit big success and nominated in several awards. It won a Special Jury Award at the 2000 Asia Pasific Film Festival and won an award as Best Narrative at the Hawaii International Film Festival.

  1. Chunhyang (2000) (script editor)
  2. A Casual Trip (1994)
  3. Seopyeonje (1993)

Kim Myung-gon’s Filmography as a Music Director

Kim Myung-gon has directed 4 songs since his debut as a music director in 1983. Here is the list of his filmography as a music director :

  1. Grown-ups Just Don’t Understand (1988)
  2. Springtime of Mimi and Cheol-su (1987)
  3. When a Woman Applies Makeup Twice (1984)
  4. Jealousy (1983)

Kim Myung-gon’s Filmography as a Theater Director

Kim Myung-gon began direct a theater in 2009. His first work was Do You Know the Milky Way?, it was a Korean stage play adaptations of Karl Wittlinger’s work with the same title Do You Know the Milky Way?. In 2012, he directed a stage performance mixing ballet and traditional Korean dance called Endless Voyage. In 2013, he directed a Korean stage play adaptations of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.

  1. Do You Know the Milky Way? (2009)
  2. Endless Voyage (2012)
  3. Death of a Salesman (2013)