Bae Yong-Jun is an actor famous throughout Asia, particularly in Japan and South Korea, for his starring role in the extremely popular Asian television drama Winter Sonata.
Bae Yong-Jun was born in Seoul, South Korea on August 29, 1972. He went to PaiChai Middle School and Hanyoung High School. In college, at Sung Kyun Kwan University he graduated from the Department of Film, TV & Multimedia, and started to pursue an acting career. When he was twenty two years old, in 1994, he appeared in the Korean film "PpilKu", a story based on the Korean drama "Salut D'Amour". Over the next year he appeared on "Salut D'Amour" and "Six Steps to Separation", essentially Korean soap operas. He continued to make appearances in television dramas over the next few years, including "Sunny Place of the Young" and "First Love".
After a two year break from acting, during which he continued to study film at Sung Kyun Kwan University, Bae Yong-Jun started appearing on television dramas again. He became internationally famous during this period for his leading role in the drama series "Winter Sonata". "Winter Sonata" introduced the Korean television drama to Japan, causing a considerable craze. He became well known as a leading personality in the "Korean Wave", a period during which Korean pop culture started to present a much larger influence on the region. Bae Yong-Jun's appearance in "Winter Sonata" continues to be his primary source of recognition. While the show has been over for several years, "Winter Sonata" has sold well on DVDs and is still much loved by the Japanese fans. Bae Yong-Jun released an autobiography entitled "The Image: Volume 1" in 2004. Although shortly after the series he appeared in a romantic film attempting to capitalize on "Winter Sonata"'s success, audiences didn't respond nearly as well to the more physical role. Over the years since "Winter Sonata" he has primarily toured in support of his "Winter Sonata" fans.