After working at Hanjin Shipping for several years , he quit his job to pursue acting full-time . In 1993 he joined MBC and made his debut in the television series '' Under the Same Roof '' ( ko ) before enlisting and completing his mandatory military service . His major breakthrough came in the 1997 television series '' Star in My Heart '' , one of the first Korean dramas to be broadcast overseas and widely acknowledged to be the " first generation " of the Korean Wave , earning him public recognition . He has since garnered an extensive filmography in both film and television , including '' Crossing '' which was South Korea 's entry for the 81st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film and earned him several nominations for various awards . He has also collaborated with Korean-American director Benson Lee in the period drama-comedy indie film '' Seoul Searching '' , which was screened at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and features a diverse cast and crew drawn from the worldwide overseas Japanese , Chinese and Korean diaspora
2015 Sundance Film Festival
2015 Sundance Film Festival
Cha In-pyo