Power Korean: Kim Tae Young 김태영

 He has probably one of the best voices in Daehangro, Korea’s very own Broadway. Known for his captivating voice and charisma, let me introduce another humble yet ambitious Korean friend to everyone. 

Kim Tae Young was born in Chuncheon, Gangwon and grew up in different suburbs of Seoul because of the nature of his father’s work. He graduated at Bundang Chung Ang High School in 2004 and currently taking his BA in Film and Theater Studies at Kyunghee University. 

Dream

Tae Young wanted to become a teacher because of the influence of his father who is a high school teacher. However, when he was in middle school, after watching the world renowned Korean movie JSA, he felt a sudden urge of becoming an actor. For him Lee Byung Hoon’s, the main actor in the movie, remarkable performance made him feel like acting is his passion. Yet, he couldn't tell it to his family until 3rd year in high school. Initially, everyone in his family was against it. It took some time until his father gave him permission because of his persistence.

          FYI if you are in Korea, you may know that one of the flourishing businesses is an acting school. You will find many good-looking star-wannabes hoping to land in a very good entertainment company. Just like them, Tae Young also decided to enroll in one of these schools after getting his father’s approval. However, he only studied for a month because his family couldn’t handle the fees. That time he decided to study college and major in acting. He almost lost his social life for a year in preparation for the Korean SAT and obviously, his hardwork paved way.

Career

Tae Young is just starting to build his own career. If I were to categorized, I could name four:  musicals, plays, films and singing. Being a performing arts major, he made a lot of appearances in different productions inside his university. He has done numerous short films made by fellow students and some musicals and plays too. On the other hand, I personally think he can also have a career in singing. I think his voice can take him places but until now singing only takes part when he has a musical.   

After serving the military for two years, he auditioned for a musical called Hwarang.* That was his first audition so he did not expect anything but still he got one of the lead roles in the said musical. For the first time he started to have fans who are really supportive. So he decided to do his best and concentrated on his work. His relationship with other actors was also really good. He said everyone was novice so they had no other choice but to do all their best.

JSA** Experience= Hwarang

 

It seems that the movie JSA really touched Tae Young’s life. Aside from dreaming of becoming an actor, JSA also played an important part of his military days because he spent almost two years over there, from 2007 to 2009. He said the experience was really hard but very rewarding. It taught him a lot about life especially on dealing with people. He told me that his JSA experience is like the old Korea’s Hwarang. Before becoming a Hwarang, you have to undergo series of physical and mental tests. This is exactly the same thing with becoming a soldier serving at the JSA. 

I hope you give your support to my friend Tae Young.

* Please check http://jmsupercuteinkorea.blogspot.com/2010/11/hwarang.html

* For those who are not aware JSA stands for Joint Security Area. It's the only part of the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) where both forces, South and North Korea, stand face-to-face