Bae Yong-joon

Bae Yong-joon is a famous businessman and former actor from South Korea.

He is best known for his many television dramas. One show, Winter Sonata, became a massive part of the Korean Wave. This means it helped spread Korean culture to other parts of the world. The show was a huge success in Asia and over 20 different countries. In Japan, fans loved him so much they gave him a special nickname. They called him Yon-sama, which means Emperor Yon. He helped bring more people to visit Korea through tourism.

Bae began his acting career in 1994 with a show called Salut D'Amour. He was a very successful new actor right away. In 1995, he won Best New Actor at the KBS Drama Awards. He continued to work in many leading roles through the 1990s. One show, First Love, reached a very high viewership rating of 65.8%. He also acted in the drama Hotelier in 2001. In that show, he played a man who works with big business deals. He later played a different kind of role in the movie Untold Scandal. In that film, he played a nobleman from the 18th century Joseon era.

Bae's career has changed many times over the years. He retired from acting after 2007 to focus on business. Today, he is the chairman of a management agency called KeyEast. He owns a large part of the company, which is 34.6% of the shares. Most of the leaders at KeyEast are people who used to be his managers. He also started a restaurant business to share healthy food. He owns a health food place called Gorilla in the Kitchen. He also owns a high-end Korean restaurant named Gosire. He even sells Gosire lunchboxes in Japanese supermarkets.

He has used his fame to share Korean culture in many ways. Bae wrote a book called A Journey in Search of Korea's Beauty. This book talks about things like traditional clothes called hanbok and making kimchi. It was a bestseller and was translated into many languages. He even made video games for the Nintendo DS. These games helped people learn the Korean language. The games had three levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. He also helped produce a musical show for teens called Dream High in 2011. This show was about students at a performing arts high school.

Bae has received many honors for his work in art and culture. He won the Hwagam Medal from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. He also received the Proud Korean Award in 2004. His work in television was very important to the history of Korean media. In 2007, he starred in a big fantasy show called The Legend. He played two different roles in that show. He was the 19th ruler of the Goguryeo kingdom and also Hwanung. Because of his talent, he was the highest paid Korean TV actor ever. He married actress Park Soo-jin in July 2015.