Ilya Belyakov (, , born 26 August 1982) is a South Korean of Russian origin who lives and performs in South Korea as a television personality, medical interpreter, professional linguist and language teacher.

Personal

Early life

He was born in

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...

, a port city of the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East ( rus, Дальний Восток России, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in North Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asia, Asian continent, and is coextensive with the Far Easte ...

, an approximate two-hour flight from

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, where he majored in

Korean language Korean is the first language, native language for about 81 million people, mostly of Koreans, Korean descent. It is the national language of both South Korea and North Korea. In the south, the language is known as () and in the north, it is kn ...

Far Eastern Federal University Far Eastern Federal University (, ''Dalnevostochny federalny universitet'') is a public university in Vladivostok, Primorsky Krai, Russia. In 2023 the university was ranked #434 by QS World University Rankings and among the 100 best universit ...

Education and work in South Korea

He arrived in South Korea for the first time in 2003, and received the highest score, for a Russian, on the language proficiency test

TOPIK The Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK; ) is a test to measure the Korean language proficiency of non-native speakers in South Korea. This examination system was introduced by the South Korean government in 1997 and conducted by a branch of t ...

. He completed a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

at the

Yonsei University Korean Language Institute The Yonsei University Korean Language Institute () provides instruction in Korean as a foreign language for international students and businesspeople in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. Established in 1959, over 62,000 students from more than 120 countries ...

as a scholarship student supported by the

Korea Foundation The Korea Foundation (KF; ) is a Nonprofit organization, non-profit public diplomacy organization established in 1991 to promote a better understanding of Korea and strengthen friendships in the international community. The foundation carries o ...

, and in 2015 was studying for a Ph.D in anthropology and linguistics at the

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

. He is fluent in

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

, English, French and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, as well as Korean. He started working at

Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...

's global human resources department in 2010. He is a contributing columnist for Korea.net, sharing anecdotal and cultural perspectives as a Russian living in Seoul.

Broadcast and acting career

On 17 November 2014 he was a "visiting intern" guest on the

JTBC JTBC (shortened from Joongang Tongyang Broadcasting Company; ; stylized in all lowercase) is a South Korean nationwide pay television network. Its primary shareholder is JoongAng Holdings, with a 25% stake. It was launched on December 1, ...

talk Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp� ...

''Non-Summit'', that was made of a cast of young men from different countries, living in Seoul, who debated and discussed issues, in Korean, with perspectives they brought from their various cultures, from their native countries. He was selected to become a permanent cast member on 12 January 2015 for Episode 28. As part of the cast, along with more serious discussions, he shared his old-fashioned dress style of

bell-bottoms Bell-bottoms (or flares) are a style of trousers that become wider from the knees downward, forming a bell-like shape of the trouser leg. History Naval origins In the early 19th century, when standardised uniforms for British ratings in the ...

, entertained with a song duet with Baek Jiyoung, and told stories of growing up in Russia. When ''Non-Summit'' changed six members of the cast on 29 June 2015, after Episode 52, in order to add new cast from different countries, he was recognized, by his fans and the show's audience, as a special contributing member to the show's reception.

Celebrity and endorsements

In April 2015, he and ''Non-Summit'' cast member

Tyler Rasch Tyler Josef Rasch (born 6 May 1988) is an American writer, educator, lecturer, actor, and television personality in South Korea. He was the author of bestseller "No Second Earth (두 번째 지구는 없다)" and a cast member of hit TV shows su ...

, both Honorary Culture Sharing Ambassadors of the

, attended a ceremony for the new "Koreans and Foreigners Together" program.

Filmography

Television series

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belyakov, Ilya 1982 births Living people Russian television personalities Russian expatriates in South Korea Mass media people from Vladivostok Far Eastern Federal University alumni Naturalized citizens of South Korea South Korean people of Russian descent