“Yumi’s Cells 3” Male Lead Sparks Huge Reactions From Korean Netizens
The casting of the final male lead in Yumi’s Cells 3 is going viral among Korean netizens, whose comments are surprisingly different from initial reactions about the actor choice.
It’s been four years since the premiere of the first season of tvN K-Drama Yumi’s Cells, based on the popular webtoon of the same name. Ever since the second season wrapped up, fans speculated endlessly about who would take on the role of Yumi’s final “endgame” love interest, Shin Soon Rok (who was briefly played by rookie actor Jeung Hoon back in 2022).
The official casting for Shin Soon Rok has since been revealed as 24-year-old Kim Jae Won, who gained recognition for his role in King the Land back in 2023. Now, a recent trending post on Korean community site TheQoo — which highlighted Kim’s 187cm height and past acting credits — has sparked excitement among Korean netizens.
While some netizens admitted they had other preferred actors in mind, like 31-year-old Gong Myung of Be Melodramatic fame, most were stunned by how closely Kim Jae Won resembles the original webtoon illustrations of Shin Soon Rok.
Others gushed about how he’ll be the perfect fit against Yumi actress Kim Go Eun. The two actors have a 10-year age gap between them, with Shin Soon Rok being three years younger than Yumi in the webtoon.
Interestingly, this enthusiastic response marks a complete turnaround from initial reactions to Kim Jae Won’s casting earlier this year. At the time, several netizens took to social media to complain that Kim was a relatively unknown actor who didn’t seem right for the role.
The dramatic shift in opinion may be down to Kim Jae Won’s appearance in the brand new Netflix drama You and Everything Else, which premiered earlier this week.
Though the series shockingly failed to chart on Netflix internationally, many Korean netizens have already fallen for the K-Drama and for Kim Jae Won’s character, Cheon Sang Hak.
Netflix’s “You And Everything Else” Fails To Chart, Here’s What Koreans Think
