Park was born in 1981, during the military dictatorship. He recalls watching South Korean films and dramas on an old, clunky TV at home with his parents. \u201cIt protruded in the back, like an alien\u2019s head, and the dial to change the channel was always falling out.\u201d He grew up loving films such as Christmas in August and City of the Rising Sun, which stars Lee Jung-jae, Park\u2019s idol and the man who plays the central protagonist of Squid Game.<\/p>\n
Park was six years old when South Korea became a formal democracy, which opened up new possibilities for cultural expression in a freer political climate. By the time Hae-soo was at that barbecue restaurant, South Korean culture \u2013 from TV dramas to music \u2013 was already gaining huge popularity in Asia, mainly China and Japan.<\/p>\n
Despite its popularity \u2013 and being surrounded by it \u2013 Park remembers being unfazed by the buzz of the Korean wave. By 2007 he had debuted as a theatre actor in a play called Mr Lobby and would go on to perform in major productions such as A Streetcar Named Desire and Frankenstein. \u201cI wasn\u2019t interested in hallyu,\u201d he says. \u201cI was interested in doing my job, acting. Becoming an international actor wasn\u2019t really at the forefront of my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
But now that\u2019s exactly what he is, thanks to Squid Game, one of the most successful shows in streaming history, generating almost $900m (\u20ac790m) for its distributor Netflix. On one hand, this success points to the growing reach of South Korean soft power: last year, content exports were estimated to be about $10bn (\u20ac8.8bn). On the other hand, South Korean soft power is buttressed by the international reach of streaming platforms such as Netflix and Youtube. \u201cThe South Korean entertainment industry has been blooming for decades,\u201d says Park. \u201cThe difference is that now there are more distribution routes out of the country.\u201d Indeed, Kakao Entertainment Corp, the parent company of the actor\u2019s agency, is working with global brands such as Apple TV and Disney+ to export South Korean content, including webtoons (digital comics).<\/p>\n
But Park\u2019s priority isn\u2019t to become a global actor; it is to become a great one. \u201cI fell in love with Squid Game because I saw the people in the story,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m interested in people. I\u2019m interested in the power of culture. I want to remain true to the process of acting. The results will come if I continue to work hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Streaming platforms and hallyu aside, Park believes that a story resonates when it can dig into the fundamental desires and natures of what makes us human, beyond national borders. \u201cIn a way, Squid Game is the most South Korean story: the setting, the characters, the children\u2019s games featured in the show,\u201d he says. \u201cBut it has a common denominator for people around the world: the sense of anger, loneliness and the longing to be comforted.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Park](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/jmp_20211117_park_haesoo_0035_1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The CV<\/p>\n
1981: Born in Seoul
2007: Makes his professional stage debut in the play Mr Lobby, soon after graduating from Dankook University
2012: First TV role in historical drama God of War
2014: Film debut in The Pirates
2020: Wins best new actor prize at the Chunsa Film Art Awards for his role in By Quantum Physics: A Nightlife Venture
2021: Squid Game is released internationally by Netflix, becoming a global hit<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When the word hallyu became a household term in South Korea, Park Hae-soo, the actor who plays the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71186,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1598,38735,1790,195,2029,171,260,8570,7198,1791,38736,1286,17557,38737,112,37844,33,7973,5830,38738],"class_list":["post-71185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-korea","tag-bts","tag-cultural-export","tag-hallyu","tag-k-pop","tag-kakao-entertainment","tag-korean","tag-korean-culture","tag-korean-drama","tag-korean-entertainment","tag-korean-wave","tag-lee-jung-jae","tag-netflix","tag-parasite","tag-park-hae-soo","tag-seoul","tag-soft-power","tag-south-korea","tag-squid-game","tag-streaming","tag-webtoons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71185\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}