List of Famous people born in South Jeolla Province, South Korea
Kai
Kim Jong-in, better known as Kai (Korean: 카이), is a South Korean singer, model, actor, and dancer. He is a member of the South Korean-Chinese boy group Exo, its sub unit Exo-K, and South Korean supergroup SuperM. He debuted as a soloist in November 2020 with the release of his extended-play, Kai (开). Apart from his musical career, Kai has also starred in various television dramas such as Choco Bank (2016), Andante (2017), and Spring Has Come (2018). Kai is widely considered to be one of the best dancers of South Korea and K-pop.
Lee Se-dol
Lee Sedol, or Lee Se-dol, is a former South Korean professional Go player of 9 dan rank. As of February 2016, he ranked second in international titles (18), behind only Lee Chang-ho (21). He is the fifth youngest to become a professional Go player in South Korean history behind Cho Hun-hyun, Lee Chang-ho, Cho Hye-yeon and Choi Cheol-han. His nickname is "The Strong Stone" ("Ssen-dol"). In March 2016 he played a notable series of matches against AlphaGo that ended in 1-4.
Choi Jin-hyuk
Choi Jin-hyuk is a South Korean actor. He gained attention for his supporting roles in Gu Family Book and The Heirs, and then went on to star in lead roles in Emergency Couple, Pride and Prejudice, Tunnel, Devilish Charm, The Last Empress and Rugal.
Yumi Hogan
Yumi Hogan is a Korean–American artist. She is the First Lady of the State of Maryland as the wife of Larry Hogan, the Governor of Maryland. Hogan is the first Korean American first lady of a U.S. state and the first Asian American first lady in the history of Maryland.
Go Hyeon-jeong
Go Hyun-jung is a South Korean actress. She debuted in the entertainment scene as a Miss Korea runner-up in 1989 and went on to star in Hourglass (1995), one of the highest-rated and critically acclaimed dramas in Korean television history. She retired after marrying chaebol Chung Yong-jin in 1995, then returned to acting after their divorce in 2003. Go has since regained her top star status in Korea, becoming the highest-paid actress on TV after the success of her series Queen Seondeok (2009) and Daemul.
Oh Ji-ho
Oh Ji-ho is a South Korean actor. He is best known for the television dramas Couple or Trouble (2006), The Slave Hunters (2010), Queen of the Office (2013) and My Fair Lady (2016).
Yoon Shi-yoon
Yoon Shi-yoon is a South Korean actor and television personality. He is best known for his leading roles in King of Baking, Kim Takgu (2010), My Cute Guys (2013), Hit the Top (2017), Grand Prince (2018) and Your Honor (2018), Nokdu Flower (2019), Psychopath Diary (2019-2020), Train (2020). From 2016-2019, he was a member of the third season of variety show 2 Days & 1 Night.
Lee Dong-hae
Lee Dong-hae, referred to as Donghae, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, composer and actor. He became a trainee under SM Entertainment after winning a prize at SM's Youth Best Contest in 2001. After four years of training, Donghae debuted as a member of boy group Super Junior in November 2005. Since then, he has risen to prominence due to the group's success on the Asian music scene and further participated in the group's project groups Super Junior-M, Super Junior-D&E. He is one of the first four Korean artists to appear on Chinese postage stamps.
Lee Yong-dae
Lee Yong-dae is a professional badminton player from South Korea who had been successful in both men's and mixed doubles. He reached world number 1 ranking with 4 different partners, Jung Jae-sung, Ko Sung-hyun and Yoo Yeon-seong in men's doubles, and Lee Hyo-jung in mixed doubles. He won a total of 43 Superseries titles, 37 in the men's doubles, the most of any doubles player in one discipline, and 6 in mixed doubles. He was ranked world number 1 in men's doubles for 117 consecutive weeks with his last partner, Yoo Yeon-seong.
Han Hye-jin
Han Hye-jin is a South Korean actress. Han made her breakthrough in 2005 when she starred as a young widow in her 20s working as an outgoing hairdresser in the hit daily drama Be Strong, Geum-soon!. Among her notable leading roles include Soseono in historical epic Jumong, Korea's first female doctor of Western medicine in Jejungwon, and a sharpshooter in the manhwa film adaptation 26 Years. She also hosted the popular talk show Healing Camp, Aren't You Happy from 2011 to 2013.