5 People Who Gave Up The Korean Dream To Become Famous Celebrities

The Korean dream is to enter a large corporation like Samsung and live a wealthy life. While some idols claim they could only ever be idols, others started out wanting the Korean dream – or already having it – before making it big in the entertainment world. The below celebrities used to have established careers at large corporations but quit in order to pursue a career in the spotlight.

1. Jung Hyung Don

Comedian Jung Hyung Don was literally living the Korean dream before he became an entertainer – he worked for Samsung as an engineer for more than 10 years before breaking into the entertainment industry.

He graduated from Busan Electrical Technical High School in 1996 and worked for Samsung until his break in 2002.

Defconn and Jung Hyung Don on Weekly Idol

Before appearing on popular television programs like Infinite Challenge and Weekly Idol, he was a member of a comedy team with his colleagues at Samsung.

2. Basick

Rapper Basick won Show Me The Money 4 in 2015, but he had to quit a stable career in order to pursue his dream.

Before featuring on songs with Mamamoo and Hwasa, Basick worked for FILA in Korea’s marketing department.

But the pull of music was too strong, so he quit and hasn’t looked back since!

3. Heo Seong Tae

This actor had a very different life planned out, and lived it until he was over 35 years old. After majoring in Russian, he worked in LG Electronics‘s overseas sales division, and was in charge of LCD TV operations in the Russian market.

After leaving this post, he worked at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering office in South Korea, receiving KRW 70 million per year.

But after signing up for SBS‘s Miracle Auditions in 2011 he started to dream about becoming a full-fledged actor and achieved success with dramas such as The Age of Shadows.

4. Jin Gi Joo

Actress and model Jin Gi Joo is known for her roles in JTBC‘s Misty and Little Forest, but she had a few different jobs before making it big.

She first started out as a consulting writer for Samsung SDS, she later became a reporter and journalist before eventually winning first prize in a supermodel competition.

She decided to quit her day job after careful consideration because of her dream of becoming an actress.

5. Bae Yung Gyeong

Bae Yung Gyeong became well-known for her appearance in Heart Signal but before her break into the entertainment world she was being a dutiful daughter.

She admitted that she had dreamed of becoming an actor since she was young, but her father objected so under his advice studied and worked in fashion design.