Actor So Ji-seop has climbed to the top of the drama actor brand reputation rankings, riding on the hot success of the SBS Friday-Saturday drama "Kim Bujang."
According to the drama actor brand reputation analysis for July 2026 released by the Korea Enterprise Reputation Research Institute on the 14th, So Ji-seop ranked first with a brand reputation index score of 6,583,287 points. Heo Nam-joon (5,934,217 points) came in second, and Kim Mu-yeol (5,562,319 points) followed in third place. Jin Ki-joo, Park Ji-hoon, Lim Ji-yeon, Yoon Kyung-ho, and Park Ji-hyun also made the top rankings.
This survey analyzed 97,869,180 brand big data on 100 drama actors from June 14 to July 14. The Korea Enterprise Reputation Research Institute stated, "So Ji-seop's brand showed high results in link analysis with terms like 'solid,' 'refreshing,' and 'substantial,' and in keyword analysis, 'paternal love,' 'live broadcast watching,' and 'lawless middle age' were highly analyzed," adding that the positive ratio recorded 93.58%.
Behind this brand reputation top ranking lies the strong box office success of the lead work "Kim Bujang" (screenplay by Nam Dae-jung, directed by Lee Seung-young and Lee So-eun, planned by Studio S, produced by Studio S and Fantastic). Based on the original Naver popular webtoon of the same name, "Kim Bujang" is a revenge action drama about an ordinary father who re-enters a dangerous world to rescue his kidnapped daughter. In the drama, So Ji-seop plays Kim Bujang, a former special forces commander and father who sacrifices everything for his daughter, earning praise for his limitless solid action sequences and emotionally deep acting.
The achievements are proven by actual figures that are overwhelming. "Kim Bujang," which started with a viewership rating of 9.5% in its first episode on the 26th of last month, achieved a milestone by breaking its own highest viewership rating of 22.3% in the recently aired sixth episode, thanks to its refreshing progression and spectacular martial arts direction.
The global response is also hot. According to Netflix's official TOP 10 count, "Kim Bujang" recorded 10.5 million views from June 29 to July 5, ranking number one globally in the non-English TV show category. After entering the chart at third place just three days after release, it swept the global top spot in just two weeks, demonstrating the strength of K-action dramas.
