Song Il-kook (; born 1 October 1971) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his role in the 2006 hit drama series ''

Jumong Dongmyeong of Goguryeo (), personal name Ko Chumong (), was the founding monarch of the kingdom of Goguryeo, and was worshipped as a god-king by the people of Goguryeo and Goryeo. King Dongmyeong was also an important figure for the kingdom of ...

'' as the titular character.

Early life and education

Song is the grandson of politician Kim Du-han, great grandson of Kim Jwa-jin, the famous

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

and

Korean independence movement The Korean independence movement was a series of diplomatic and militant efforts to liberate Korea from Japanese rule. The movement began around the late 19th or early 20th century, and ended with the surrender of Japan in 1945. As independence a ...

general during the early 1900s. Song is the son of politician and former actress Kim Eul-dong. He graduated from Cheongju University, majoring in

Performing Arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

, and later obtained a master's degree from Chung-Ang University.

Career

Song is the vice-president of the Korean

Triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the ...

Confederation and participated in the 2008 Seoul International Triathlon Competition. In April 2008, Song carried the Olympic torch through Seoul. Song Il Gook

According to Reuters the most popular episodes of

attracted over 90% of Iranian audience (compared to 40% in South Korea), propelling Song Il-gook to superstar status in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. Song is also an amateur sketch artist. He has also modelled professionally, both on the runway and in print. In 2008, he was one of the subjects of the Kolon Christmas Photo Shoot. In 2009, the state of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

designated March 21 as Song Il-kook day. In April 2010, he was invited to the

Blue House Cheong Wa Dae (), also known as the Blue House in English, is a public park that was the former Office of the President of South Korea, executive office and residence of the president of South Korea. Located in Seoul's Jongno District, directl ...

to dine with Heads of State, including the president of

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

, as ''

'' garnered immense popularity in the central Asian country. In October 2015, Song signed an exclusive contract with management agency C-JeS Entertainment.

Personal life

On 15 March 2008, Song was wed to High Court

Judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

Jung Seung-yeon in a private, traditional

Korean wedding Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

at the Sheraton Walkerhill Hotel in

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 ...

. Song and Jung became parents to fraternal triplet sons at a hospital in Seoul on 16 March 2012. Their sons are named Dae-han, Min-guk and Man-se which, when said together mean "Long live the Republic of Korea". Song and his sons starred in the variety show '' The Return of Superman'' from 6 July 2014 to 7 February 2016. The triplets also made a cameo appearance in Song's television series '' Jang Yeong-sil'' (2016). Song adheres to a pescetarian diet for both health and ethical reasons.Lee, Seo-hyun
'송일국-이하늬-윤진서-김효진-배종옥' 공통점은!
ong Il-kook, Lee Ha-nui, Yun Jin-seo, Kim Hyo-jin and Bae Jong-ok have something in common(2012-01-04) (in Korean), Shinmoongo, Retrieved 2012-05-11
Archive
(2012-05-11)

(2012-05-11)

Filmography

Film

Television series

Television shows

Stage

Musical

Theatre

Awards and nominations

Honors

Notes

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Song, Il-kook South Korean male film actors South Korean male television actors Living people 1971 births Male actors from Seoul Cheongju University alumni Kim Du-han