Career
He stepped into the entertainment industry in 1999 at around six years of age featuring in a cell phone advertisement, courtesy his mother who sent his snapshot to an advertising agency.
His acting debut happened as a child actor in 2000 with television series ‘Daddy Fish’. This was followed with two more TV productions in 2001.
He made his film debut with the low-budget family flick ‘The Way Home’ written and directed by Lee Jeong-hyang. The film shows the way his character Sang-woo, a city-born seven year old boy gradually learn to appreciate rural life when he visits his 78-year-old mute, but not deaf, grandmother (played by Kim Eul-boon) to spend the summer with her.
The simplicity and heart-touching story of ‘The Way Home’ that released on April 5, 2002 drew over four million admissions thus becoming a blockbuster hit garnering US$24,952,738 at box office. It also received critical acclaim apart from bagging the year’s Best Film award from ‘The Grand Bell Awards’ considered Korean equivalent of the American ‘Academy Awards’.
The success of ‘The Way Home’ paved his way to stardom at such tender age and earned him the title "Nation's Little Brother”.
Thereafter he did a couple of films including ‘Happy Ero Christmas’ (2003) and ‘Don't Tell Papa’ (2004) before landing up in his next starring role as Chan-yi in the October 26, 2006 released South Korean drama film ‘Heart Is....’. It grossed US$4,678,547 at the box office.
Meanwhile he appeared in several TV series, many of which featured him in younger versions of male protagonists. These included ‘Love Letter’ (2003), ‘Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-sin’ (2004), ‘The King and I’ (2007) and ‘The Legend’ (2007).
His next film was ‘Unforgettable’ (2008) where he essayed the role of Gil-su. The following year he played the starring role of Kim Jong-chul in the action flick ‘City of Fathers’ that released on October 15, 2009.
The next lead role he played was in the thriller film ‘4th Period Mystery’ starring opposite Kang So-ra. The film released on August 12, 2009 garnered 67,602 admissions grossing US$360,944 at box office. Internationally it was released as ‘The Clue’. His notable TV performance that year was that of Kim Chunchu in the MBC historical drama ‘Queen Seondeok’.
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He played one of the main roles of Hwang Baek-hyun in South Korean TV series ‘Master of Study’ that aired on KBS2 for 16 episodes from January 4 to February 23, 2010. That year he also played Kim Min-jae, the second-generation son of a wealthy chaebol family in the TV series ‘Flames of Desire’.
In late 2010 he along with South Korean singer-songwriter, record producer and actress IU sang a duet titled ‘I Believe in Love’ for Love Request charity program. A diary penned down by him observing war orphans in Sri Lankan slums forms basis of the song’s lyrics.
Seung-ho then landed up playing the role of an assassin Yeo Woon in the South Korean fusion historical-action TV series ‘Warrior Baek Dong-soo’ that aired on SBS for 29 episodes from July 4 2011 to October 10, 2011. He took training in martial arts and swordplay to sync in to the character.
He then starred opposite Kim Ha-neul in the South Korean crime thriller film ‘Blind’ that premiered at the ‘Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival’ or PiFan on July 22, 2011 and later released in South Korean theatres on August 11 of that year. It earned US$16,123,104 at the box office.
The critically acclaimed and commercially successful South Korean animated drama film ‘Leafie, A Hen into the Wild’ saw Seung-ho giving voice over as Leafie's adopted son Greenie. Released on July 28, 2011, it made history by drawing more than 2.2 million viewers and emerging as most successful animated film of South Korea.
His first leading role was that of Kang Baek-ho in the South Korean TV series ‘Operation Proposal’, a remake of Japanese drama ‘Operation Love’. It aired on TV Chosun for 16 episodes from February 8, 2012 to March 29, 2012. That year he also featured in TV series ‘Arang and the Magistrate’ and ‘Missing You.
From March 5, 2013 till his discharge on December 4, 2014, he served his mandatory military service in the capacity of a regular soldier and was given the responsibility of training new recruits.
His first appearance post military service was in Naul's music video ‘You From the Same Time’ in 2015. He then featured as Hyun Jong-hyun, a stubborn webcomic writer, in the South Korean TV series ‘Imaginary Cat’ that aired on ‘MBC Every 1’, from November 24, 2015, to January 12, 2016.
This was followed by another television series ‘Remember: War of the Son’ where he starred in the main role of Seo Jin-woo, a lawyer with hyperthymesia. The series aired on SBS for 20 episodes starting from December 9, 2015 to February 18, 2016.
Meanwhile he played Hwan-hee, one of the main characters of the South Korean period fantasy film ‘Joseon Magician’ that released on December 30, 2015.
Thereafter he was seen in the titular role of Kim Seon-dal in the big-screen flick ‘Seondal: The Man Who Sells the River’. The film released on July 6, 2016.
His last TV series so far, ‘The Emperor: Owner of the Mask’, a historical melodrama, saw him playing the main role of Crown Prince Lee Sun. It aired on MBC for 40 episodes starting from May 10, 2017 to July 13, 2017.
