Recently, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Korea and the Korea International Institute for Promoting Cultural Exchange announced the results of the "Truth Survey on Korean Waves Abroad in 2024". The survey took place from November 29 to December 27, 2024 with 26,400 people from 28 countries and territories outside of Korea.
Accordingly, in the "Most Favorite Korean Actor in the World" ranking voted by fans around the world, Lee Min Ho ranked first. This is also the 12th consecutive time the actor of "Band Star Garden" has been at the top of this ranking.
Lee Min Ho's winning rate is 7% far surpassing Gong Yoo (2.4%) and Song Hye Kyo (2.4%) is second. Kim Soo Hyun came in third with 2.3%, followed by Lee Jong Suk (2%) and Hyun Bin (1.8%).
The survey took place before the actor encountered love scandals with the late actor Kim Sae Ron. Therefore, it is not surprising that the name Kim Soo Hyun has a high ranking, surpassing both other "heavyweight opponents" Lee Jong Suk and Hyun Bin.
Before the love scandal with the late actor Kim Sae Ron, Kim Soo Hyun was once known as the highest-paid actor in Korea. He is considered the most successful actor of his generation.
The series of films with the actor's participation all won big and created a fever such as "For Why Why Are You Here", "It's okay", "Queen of Tears"... Since 2022, Kim Soo Hyun has been paid up to 165,000 USD for each episode of "It's okay". This salary level surpasses both Hyun Bin and Lee Min Ho - the two most famous actors in Korea.
According to GQ, Kim Soo Hyun has an estimated fortune of about 117 million USD. The actor also owns a luxury villa worth about 3.5 million USD and a personal Instagram page with 18.3 million followers. In 2013 and 2015, Kim Soo Hyun was in the top 5 of Forbes Korea's list of powerful celebrities, ranked 4th and 2nd respectively.
The scandal that broke out has significantly affected Kim Soo Hyun's reputation when a series of advertising contracts were canceled, and upcoming projects were delayed indefinitely. Although a press conference has explained the rumors surrounding the love scandal, many people believe that Kim Soo Hyun will find it difficult to regain his previous position.
