Easily Yoon Chan-young! He's turned in so many excellent performances already, with Nobody Knows and Everything and Nothing being the ones that really cemented him in my brain. I was so excited for his first leading role, so imagine how distraught I was when I realised it was a zombie drama 😭

If the real life truck of doom never happened, i probably would say my second bias' name out loud here...
But it's okay cos there's Lee Sangyi, the guy in my profile picture. I don't know if he fits the up and coming actor, but i believe he has so much potential we haven't seen yet.
He can act, sing well, and also funny so i can't wait to see more from him. I wish his netflix drama with Woo Dohwan to be successful

I thought you'd never ask! (*ties hair in a ponytail)
So... Bae Inhyuk has been on my radar for a while, and I think he did well in At a Distance Spring is Green. I first spotted him in XX webdrama, together with Hani, who was awesome not long ago in Idol: the Coup and should be on this list. But this webdrama is the drama that keeps on giving, because Lee Jongwon played a really fun and memorable role there. Since then he's been getting small parts here and there (and, funfact, he played boyfriend in a IU MV), but he still hasn't got his big break.
I also loved Jo Yihyun's turn in AOUAD. She's got charisma and pathos, and she's also gorgeous. I have not doubt she's going to get big.
Hwang Inyeop bad boy softie was very fun in True Beauty, and there was also Kim Minki's annoying younger brother (he went on to work in Racket Boys) in TB, so there's two more.
I just finished watching Inspector Koo and I absolutely loved both Kim Yejun and Lee Hongnae. Their little toxic best psycho buddies chemistry was a drama highlight for me.
Finally, Jang Euisoo, because he's got a very intense gaze and I'm shallow like that 😂

Jo Yi-Hyun is on my radar too but for the dramas I won't watch because of her...

I liked Baek In-Hyuk in My Roomate and but overall in At a Distance, Spring is Green. If I didn't really like the drama itself, I think he was really good in this role. Sadly, he was the second male lead and the focus wasn't on him.

For Park Solomon, I don't really have an opinion for now. He had mostly scenes with JYH, so...

For newbie, I'm curious as new leas actor about Hwang In Yup after True Beauty and Kim Young Dae.

For the actress, I would like to see Choi Sung Eun in a lead role, she was really good in Beyond Evil.

The most adorable kid Yoon Hae-Kang, I mean Tang Joon-Sang. He's not really a newbie with Move to Heaven and Racket Boys, but he's still pretty young.

Choi Myung Bin has experience as child counterpart in TKA. She really showed great acting as twins in a sageuk.

Does Jeon Mi-do count?

I know she's an acclaimed musical theater actress but Hospital Playlist was her first TV project (and she was excellent in it imo)

Park Solomon was really great as a teenage psychopath in the drama "The Guardians" , he seems destined for superstardom if he picks the right projects.

Omo, almost forgot Nam Yoonsoo and his adorable dimply smile. He did a great turn as a baddie in Extracurricular and was a very nice lovelorn SL in The King's Affection

😞 I feel so old and don’t know any up-and-comers anymore. But I know this is a fun exercise because I can remember thinking “who is that guy???” when Kim Nam Gil had a tiiiiny part in Kim Sam Soon. It’s been so fun to watch him explode into super stardom over the (now, many) years 😍

While these actors/actresses are not recent or still active, I am still waiting for their main lead roles.

1) Kim Seul Gi - Waiting for her reunion with Yoon Doo Joon.

2) Kwak Dong Yeon - He needs to get main lead roles more.

3) Ahn Eun Jin - Hopefully she will continue to get lead roles.

4) Kim Min Seok - I rewatch his clips as Han Se Gye in Beauty Insider and his clips with Choi Ara in Age of Youth 2.

And many more that I can't recall now!

An Si-ha seems to have just started a couple years ago but she has been getting lots of supporting roles and made a good impression on me, especially in Delayed Justice / Fly Dragon.

Lee Re would certainly qualify unless you say the has already arrived.

Choi Myung-bin is (King's Affection, 25 21) is my nominee for "growing up and comer".

I wish Hwang Hee got more leading roles now. He’s been in bits and pieces, riding the ladder up the “second leads” role but you could tell he has a range and chops as an actor as well as facial and body expressiveness. Unfortunately, his “non-plastic” non-conventional looks will not get him far in the world of kdrama. I hope he finds more success in Chungmuro.

Lee Jae Wook. I want to see him as long-haired sword-wielding leading man in an awesome sageuk.

Kang Tae-oh was so charming in Run On and seemed destined to go to the next level and then came Doom At Your Service. If he chooses the right roles, I think he could be leading man material.

I think Lee Re is destined for big things.

I think Tang Jung-sung is also destined for big things. Son Sang Yeon from Racket Boys and All of Us Are Dead also caught my eye. Really, all of the young adults were great.

I really liked Kim Hye Jun in both Kingdom and Inspector Koo. I think she's going places.

I liked Lee Yoo-mi in both Squid Game and All of Us Are Dead.

Oh there are so many up-and-comers that I've been impressed by lately. In fact, I have some for every drama flavour!

Among sageuks - Kang Hoon and Nam Yoon-soo from The Red Sleeve Cuff and The King's Affection respectively.

Among college romances - Bae In-hyuk from My Roommate is a Gumiho and Hwang In-yeop from True Beauty/ 18 Again.

Among ensemble dramas - Lee Shin-young from CLOY and Choi Hyun-wook from Racket Boys.

Among those who have already seen some measure of success - Tang Jun-sang and Lee Jae-wook.

And of course my eternal favourite child Nam Da-reum, from too many dramas to name, who is sadly going to be away in the military for a while.

There are three actors that really caught my eye the past year is Kim Min-ki who played the little brother in True Beauty for his vivid expressions. Also Hu Xian Xu, lead actor of cdrama Hikaru no Go. I was blown away by his acting range and charm. Then there is my big crush of 2021, Wang Duo, whom stole the show in movie Yin-yang Master: Dream of Eternity and stole my heart in Bloody Romance. I'm dying for another dubious villain from him.😍

Lee Re!! Can she be called an up and coming actor? I'm really excited to see what other projects she will star in!

In terms of the Idol turned actresses, I'm really impressed with Nana, Bona, Kim Se Jeong. I know Jisoo has just started out but I think we could see more from her if she continues to work on her acting!
Kim Hye Joon- She did so well in Inspector Koo, excited to see what she will do next!

Jang Eui Soo- he recently played the chef in my sweet dear, although it was a greasy character, I think we will see more from him and his co star Lee Jang Hyung!

I dont know the youngest generation that well, but from the 2010s faces I feel like Lee Se-young and Park Hyungshik reached a new level/milestone this year, and COULD score something better like a movie by a reknowned director. im a bit pissed that Hyungsik is in dramas, because he is too good for light entertainment.
I also really enjoy Rowoons´ energy and enthusiasm, now if we could match that with intention and restraint.
from newbies, Lee Jun Yeon - not like outstanding, but has potential because he has 2 things: restraint, and a good accord with the camera. for newbies, sometimes you can see they are too aware of the camera. even the girl in Imitation, unfortunately. She tried too hard, like "im not acting, im not acting, but I see the camera!"
But seems like he can switch it out of his mind.

Ooh... so many tons of my interested up-and-coming stars that I found:
Moon Byung-joo: he was born in 1984 and he was played as number 21 in Squid Game
Christian Lagahit: before he played as number 276 in Squid Game, he debuted in Korean film The Negotiator and his first Kdrama was Miss Lee which he played Kisan
Hwang Boreumbyeol: her first Kdrama was School 2021, but before she had a Netflix Korean sitcom So Not Worth It (her other Kdrama Dear M had unfortunate no release date yet)
Lee Sang Jun: he was playing the Nulji Science Tech high school student Lee Jae-hyeok in School 2021
JR: Nu'Est member who played Lee Shin, one of the boyband Luna members in Let Me Be Your Knight, but his debut acting came from 2016 Japanese film Their Distance (Shiranai, Futari) as Ji-woo Yoo
Choi Hwan-yi: from his acting debut in Mr. Queen to playing MM Entrtainment's Kil Soon-nam in Let Me Be Your Knight
Lim Jae-hyuk or Im Jae-hyuk (https://www.koreaboo.com/news/us-dead-im-jae-hyuk-gained-weight-role/): before he played Yang Dae-su in All of Us Are Dead, he starred in his first Kdrama, SBS' Alice
Noreen Joyce (https://www.koreaboo.com/stories/filipina-noreen-joyce-us-dead-backpack-pinoy-way/): she starred in All of Us Are Dead, Our Beloved Summer and even in Reflection of You

I cant think for the male ones. Like Lee Dohyun, Song Kang, Choi Wooshik or Kang Haneul, I knew, I knew they will doing great from the 1st time I watched them.

Park Solomon (?) I think he has the chance if manage his career well. This is important. I dont want see things like Park Yoochun or Kim Seonho. Such a waste. Just talent is not enough. Good agent, level headed (see Hyun Bin, Gong Yoo), responsibility, and luck all are needed.

I want to see the boy from Love and Lashes who he is ha ha ha

Hani is great at Idol The Coup.

Not sure what are the criterias to be considered an up-and-comer.. age? dramas under their belt? years in the biz? I have been watching kdramas for so long so I will just think of this as new faces in the biz.

For the actresses... i love Kim Dami, Noh Jeung Ui, Kim Jae Kyung, Moon Ga Young and Cho Yi Hyun. KDM is only active since 2017 but has headlined a movie and a couple of dramas which has positive reception but prior she was in bit roles. NJE was a child actress and has been in the biz for 11 years. She is really memorable in the teen roles I saw her in - LUTYN and Kill It. KJK, I will always remember her as Veronica Park but liked her in Devil Judge. MGY has headlined dramas and I really like her in the two I saw her in. CYH is the youngest and has a handful of dramas under her belt with the most recent one more exposure to international audience bit I like her the most in HosPlay and AOUAD.

For the guys, I really like Wie Ha Joon, Hwang In Yeop, Kwak Dong Yeon, Kwak Shi Yang, Tang Jun Sang and Ahn Hyo Seop.are they considered up and comer? They are relatively new faces and been recognized in the past two years so I think of them as such.

Can i add one more name? I just watched Love and Leashes and i forget how good Lee Junyoung is. So freaking good.
I found him in Class of Lies, one of my fave, and I can't imagine other person playing Beomjin. Such an interesting character and well executed by Junyoung.
I don't watch his other dramas but i hope he'll choose interesting roles in the future. He's likeable, hardworking, still young, and has so much potential

Uh...does Jeon Yeobeen count? I was floored by her in Vincenzo and promptly ran off to watch all her other works and came back even more impressed. I haven't been this excited about a Korean actress since seeing Kim Taeri in The Handmaiden.

Also, Kim Hyejoon has been on my radar since watching kingdom.

On the men's side, when will Kwak Dongyeon ever get his due?!!!

The one on the fastest track is Park Ji-hu whose popularity has exploded since starring in the Korean series "All of Us Are Dead."

She does have the acting credentials as she became the youngest-ever winner of the Best Actress award at the Tribeca Film Festival with "House of Hummingbird" in 2019. Park has a busy year ahead of her. Opening soon is "Concrete Utopia," in which she appears along with Lee Byung-hun and Park Seo-joon. She will also star in cable channel tvN's upcoming drama series "Little Women" along with Kim Go-eun.

For now i'd say Nam Yoon-soo & Kim Hye Joon...Really hope they will get more solid projects and land leading roles...

The first young actor on my mind is Tang Jun-sang. He has a bright future to be a big star in any genre. His performance in Move to heaven and Racket boys are my favorite.

Bae Hyun-sung and Kim Kang-Min from Hospital playlist caught my eyes. I like their acting in the show.

How young are we going? Because for female actresses, Choi Myung-bin of the King’s Affection and playing the FL’s future teenaged daughter in 25,21 is going to be huge.

I agree with Solomon Park who is actually from Uzbekistan. I notice him when he was in Lookout for being the perfect villain: https://www.dramabeans.com/2019/07/villains-pure-evil-and-the-actors-who-play-them/

And lest I forget Nam Da-reum. Yes, he’s been around a while, but he will be the swooniest lead on day and not just playing their younger selves.

I like Yoo Su-Bin. He was great in CLOY, and I liked him in Startup. I hope he gets a lot more work, if he does I'll watch any drama he's in. I want to watch Lost, but can't seem to find a place to legally do that.

Kim Jae-young (Reflection of You)

It's kinda weird saying I'm expecting Yoon Chanyoung because he has been everywhere but I do hope he's getting more of lead stuff now that All of Us are Dead kinda blows up. Also... I LOVE Park Sieun's girlgroup activity but god I do wish we had more stuff with her because I do miss her in my dramas, ESPECIALLY with Chanyoung

Kang Mal-geum, suddenly seeing her everywhere! Surprised with her comedic side in thirty-nine

I have quite a lot but Koo Kyohwan from D.P definitely stands out! I know he's been getting more projects so I think he'll "officially" be promoted to top star level once those projects (and D.P season 2) are released.

The rest of my list is pretty much similar to others: the Racket Boys boys (Tang Junsang, Son Sangyeon, Choi Hyunwook) have bright future. Kim Kanghoon also has a very bright future, I didn't mean to leave him out! But I think he's going to stick to "younger selves" or the main character's son/smaller roles for a couple more years since he's still very young.

Also, do people still remember Kim Sungkyu from Kingdom? He's actually my favorite but honestly I don't see him a lot. I watched A Piece of Your Mind for him, but after that I haven't watched anything. But no worries, I'm gonna watch Ordinary Day soon, and I hope he'll be getting bigger roles (waiting for King of Pigs!)

Other honorable mentions: Bona, pretty much the whole AOUAD squad, Park Jinyoung (the one in The Devil Judge)

P.S. I consider Kwak Dongyeon and Nam Dareum as established actors but they really need to be cast in more main roles!

Seol In-A and Kim Min Kyu second leads from Business Proposal!
I've seen Seol In-A in another good family drama Beautiful Love,Wonderful Life which she was fantastic! Kim MinKyu I saw for the first time in the drama Because this is My First Life.
These two are definitely excellent actors and hope to see them both in lead roles!