Skip over navigation

Song Kang-ho

Song Kang-ho is a leading South Korean film actor.
He was born January 17, 1967 in Gimhae (South Korea).
A graduate of Busan Kyungsang College, he started his career in theatre groups without professional training as an actor. He made his stage premiere in 1991, in the play Dongseung.

In 1996 Song started appearing in film roles and his 1997 part in No. 3, as a gangster training a group of recruits, won him his first acting award, at the Blue Dragon Film Awards. Song's cachet rose with his high-profile supporting role in the 1999 box-office hit Shiri.

In 2000, Song received his first leading roles as a wrestler in The Foul King and as a North Korean sergeant in Joint Security Area.
In recent years he has received critical acclaim for his portrayals of a vengeful father in Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002); an incompetent rural detective in Memories Of Murder (2003); a barber who dotes on his only son in The President's Barber (2004); and a semi-intelligent but doting father in the The Host (2006). He won Best Actor in the 2007 Asian Film Awards.
He plays the lead role as Priest Sang-hyeon in Chan-wook Park's film Thirst 2009 (aka Bakjwi).


What members say | Filmography

Song Kang-ho - what members say


  • The Host
  • The Host review by SAI81 from Tonbridge, Kent
    Rated - 4 stars The Host 2 December 2006
    .... Aiding Bong immesurably is an excellent cast. Bong recasts his Memories star Song Kang-ho, a fine and versatile dramatic actor, as the layabout father at the centre of t...  
  • Thirst
  • Thirst review by A customer from Wallsend
    Rated - 4 stars Bloody good movie 12 October 2009
    ...A beautiful film, the set pieces are always amazing and Song Kang-ho is brilliant as the blood thirsty priest. A must see for all Chan-wook Park and Vampire fans a like....  

Song Kang-ho - filmography


  • Thirst (2009)
    Starring: Song Kang-ho,  Song Kang-ho,  Shin Ha-Kyun
    Director: Park Chan-Wook,  Chan-Wook Park
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    Sang-hyun is a priest who cherishes life; so much so, that he selflessly volunteers for a secret vaccine development project meant to eradicate a deadly virus. But, the virus takes the priest, and a blood transfusion is urgently ordered up for him. The blood he receives is infected, so Sang-hyun ..read more »
    Rate this: 4 stars out of 5 76% from 28 members
    Due for release on 25th January 2010
    Sign up
  • Secret Sunshine (2007)
    Starring: Do-yeon Jeon,  Song Kang-ho
    Director: Chang-dong Lee
    Certificate: Certificate: TBC
    Sin-ae moves with her son Jun to Miryang, the town where her dead husband was born. As she tries to come to herself and set out on new foundations, another tragic event overturns her life.
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 62% from 7 members
    Sign up
  • The Host on DVD (2006)
    Starring: Song Kang-ho,  Bae Du-na,  Bae Du-Na
    Director: Bong Joon-ho
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    The Park family seem to lead a quite ordinary and peaceful life; well, maybe a little poorer than the average Seoul citizens. Park Hee-bong (played by Byun Hee-bong) is a man in his late 60s running a small snack bar on the banks of the Seoul's Han River and, living with his two sons, daughter and ..read more »
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 61% from 13,584 members
    Sign up
  • Host, The - HD DVD Version (2006)
    Starring: Song Kang-ho,  Bae Du-na,  Bae Du-Na
    Director: Bong Joon-ho
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Selling his wares to passers by along Seoul's Han River, life is peaceful for a small-time snack bar owner and his dim-witted son. However, the tranquillity of their day-to-day lives is shattered when a mutant creature emerges from the depths of the Han and embarks on a blood-thirsty rampage. While ..read more »
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 59% from 245 members
    Sign up
  • Shiri on DVD (2003)
    Starring: Han Suk-Kyu,  Choe Min-Sik,  Song Kang-ho
    Director: Jacky Kang,  Je-gyu Kang
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    In 1992, Hee was trained by a secret North Korean terrorist organisation to be a deadly assassin. Six years later, her extreme accuracy has taken the lives of many in South Korea, and Ryu--a special agent of OP, Korea's top secret intelligence agency--along with his cohort Lee, have devoted years ..read more »
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 59% from 2,495 members
    Sign up
  • The Quiet Family on DVD (1998)
    Starring: In-hwan Park,  Mun-hee Na,  Song Kang-ho
    Director: Ji-woon Kim
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    A family decides to buy a lodge in a remote hiking area. Their first customer commits suicide and the distraught family buries his body to avoid the bad publicity.
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 63% from 433 members
    Sign up

Song Kang-ho facts

5 most recent films

Thirst - 4.0 stars
Good, The Bad, The Weird, The - BLU-RAY Version - 3.5 stars
The Good, The Bad, The Weird - 3.5 stars
Secret Sunshine - 3.0 stars
The Host - 3.0 stars

5 highest-rated films

Memories Of Murder - 3.5 stars
Sympathy For Mr Vengeance - 3.5 stars
Good, The Bad, The Weird, The - BLU-RAY Version - 3.5 stars
The Good, The Bad, The Weird - 3.5 stars
Joint Security Area - JSA - 3.5 stars

5 lowest-rated films

Secret Sunshine - 3.0 stars
Thirst - 4.0 stars
Host, The - BLU-RAY Version - 3.0 stars
Shiri - 3.0 stars
Host, The - HD DVD Version - 3.0 stars

Most frequent co-stars

Byung-hun Lee - 4 times - show films
Bae Du-Na - 4 times - show films
Bae Du-na - 4 times - show films
Park Hae-il - 3 times - show films
Ha-Kyun Shin - 3 times - show films

Most frequent directors

Chan-Wook Park - 5 times - show films
Ji-woon Kim - 5 times - show films
Bong Joon-ho - 4 times - show films
Je-gyu Kang - 1 times - show films
Park Chan-Wook - 1 times - show films