Rowoon Age, Wiki, Girlfriend, Family, Career, Net Worth

Rowoon once memorised the names of more than 400 plants to win a school contest, and that same quiet patience later carried him through six long years as a trainee. He was born Kim Seok-woo on August 7, 1996 (30 years old), in Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea.

He is a South Korean actor and a former member of the boy band SF9, which he left in 2023 to give his full attention to acting.

His big break came in 2019, when he played Ha-ru, a nameless extra who wakes up inside a comic book world, in MBC’s Extraordinary You. The role won him Best New Actor at the MBC Drama Awards.

He went on to lead the historical romance The King’s Affection (2021) and the fantasy drama Tomorrow (2022). In 2023, The Matchmakers earned him the Top Excellence Award at the KBS Drama Awards, the biggest honour of his career so far.

His latest lead role came in The Murky Stream (2025), the first Korean historical series made by Disney+. Soon after, in October 2025, he enlisted for his mandatory military service.

Quick Facts of Rowoon

Full Name	Kim Seok-woo (김석우)
Stage Name	Rowoon (로운)
Profession	Actor, Singer (former SF9 member)
Age	30 years old
Date of Birth	August 7, 1996
Nationality	South Korean
Zodiac/Sun Sign	Leo
Birthplace	Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Current Address	Yet to be updated
Gender	Male

Rowoon Early Life and Education

Rowoon grew up as Kim Seok-woo in Daechi-dong, a corner of Gangnam that Koreans often call the capital of private tutoring.

As a boy, he dreamed of becoming either a footballer or an architect. He took football seriously enough that his team finished third at a national competition held in Chuncheon.

Music came into his life almost by accident. In middle school, he went to a karaoke room with friends, and someone he was fond of told him he had a good voice.

That one compliment stayed with him. Singing had always felt like a far-away dream, but he told his parents, joined a vocal academy, and soon passed an audition to become a trainee.

Training was not easy. He later admitted that he lacked staying power back then and often wanted to stop and rest. At one low point, he even thought about quitting singing for good.

Two things kept him going. The songs of ballad singer Park Hyo-shin gave him courage, and an older trainee kept pulling him forward. Rowoon has said he honestly does not know where he would be without that senior.

Education

Rowoon attended Seoul Daehyun Elementary School and then Hwimun Middle School, a boys’ school sitting right in his home neighbourhood of Daechi-dong. It was during these middle school years that the karaoke moment first pointed him towards music.

He went on to Gyeonggi High School, another boys’ school, and graduated from there. He later enrolled at Kyung Hee Cyber University, an online university popular with entertainers who study around busy schedules. His department and graduation year have not been officially confirmed.

School	Seoul Daehyun Elementary School; Hwimun Middle School; Gyeonggi High School;
Alma Mater	Kyung Hee Cyber University (enrolled)
Highest Qualification	High school graduate (university graduation yet to be updated)

Rowoon Personal Life

Rowoon talks openly about his work, his friends and his fans, but he keeps his love life and family almost entirely out of view. What he has shared comes in small, honest pieces, usually tucked inside interviews.

He has also admitted that he feels lonely more often than people might expect. In 2019, he said that when nobody is around, he lets himself go completely, sometimes crying or unwinding with a light film or a book.

Girlfriend and Relationships

As far as the public knows, Rowoon is currently single. He has never confirmed a relationship since his debut in 2016, and FNC Entertainment has never announced one on his behalf.

When it comes to his ideal type, he keeps things simple. He has said he likes someone tall, and someone who simply looks good in his eyes.

Past Relationships

In a 2018 interview with TV Report, Rowoon admitted that he had been in a relationship only once. He explained that even then, he kept a careful distance for a long time and only spoke up once he felt sure of his feelings.

He also spoke on KBS’s Happy Together about having a girlfriend before his debut, describing her as his first love and the person he had loved the most. He has never revealed who she is or why they parted ways.

Parents

Rowoon’s parents stay well away from the spotlight, and their names and jobs have never been made public. Even so, they quietly keep up with his work.

When The Murky Stream came out in 2025, he told TV Report that his parents enjoyed it because they could not spot the son they knew anywhere in his rough, streetwise character. He shared their reaction with a laugh.

Siblings

Rowoon has one older sister, two years his senior, which makes him the younger of the two children. Her name and profession have not been made public, and further details are yet to be updated.

Relationship Status	Single (no confirmed relationship)
Girlfriend	Yet to be updated
Parents	Father: Yet to be updated Mother: Yet to be updated
Siblings	Sister: One Older Sister (born in 1994)

Rowoon Career

Rowoon’s career has moved in a slow, steady climb rather than one sudden leap. He started as a hopeful trainee, became the tallest face in a nine-member boy band, and then quietly turned himself into one of the most dependable leading men in Korean drama.

Along the way, he picked up a Top Excellence Award, starred in the first Korean series ever to win an International Emmy, and walked away from his group to bet everything on acting.

Trainee Years and Debut with SF9 (2013 to 2016)

Rowoon’s first time in front of a camera came in 2013, when he appeared as a trainee on FNC Entertainment’s reality show Cheongdam-dong 111. He was still years away from a debut, learning to sing and dance alongside other hopefuls.

In 2015, he joined FNC’s pre-debut team, Neoz School. The following year, his team, Neoz Dance, faced off against Neoz Band on the survival show d.o.b (Dance or Band) and won with 51% of the public vote, earning the right to debut.

On October 5, 2016, the group made its debut as SF9 with the single “Fanfare.” Rowoon took on the roles of lead vocalist, visual and centre, and his height quickly made him one of the most recognisable members.

The group enjoyed its proudest musical moment in January 2020, when “Good Guy” topped both M Countdown and Music Bank, giving SF9 its first wins on major music shows.

First Steps in Acting (2016 to 2018)

Rowoon’s acting life actually began before his idol debut. In March 2016, he played the ace of a high school baseball team in the interactive web drama Click Your Heart, which starred AOA’s Mina alongside the Neoz School trainees, including future SF9 members Dawon, Zuho and Chani.

Viewers could pick the story’s ending themselves, a first for a Korean drama. At the press event, Rowoon admitted it was his first try at acting and thanked Mina for helping him get through filming smoothly.

His television debut came in 2017 with a small supporting role as Kang Hyun-il in KBS2’s School 2017, a teen drama led by Kim Sejeong, Kim Jung-hyun, Jang Dong-yoon and Han Joo-wan.

In 2018, tvN cast him in About Time, where he played Choi Wi-jin, the younger brother of Lee Sung-kyung’s character, opposite lead actor Lee Sang-yoon.

Later that year, he landed a bigger part in SBS’s Where Stars Land, playing Go Eun-seob, an airport ramp operations worker quietly in love with Han Yeo-reum, played by Chae Soo-bin. Lee Je-hoon led the series as Lee Soo-yeon, with Lee Dong-gun as Seo In-woo.

Rowoon struggled with one long emergency scene full of technical lines. He later revealed that Yoo In-na, whom he had befriended while filming the tvN variety show Cafe Amor, met him at a café and coached him through it. The role earned him a Best New Actor nomination at the 2018 SBS Drama Awards.

Breakthrough with Extraordinary You (2019 to 2020)

In 2019, Rowoon won his first lead role through an audition for MBC’s Extraordinary You, based on the Daum webtoon July Found by Chance. He played Ha-ru, known in the story as “Number 13,” a mysterious character in a comic book who slowly gains a will of his own.

He starred opposite Kim Hye-yoon, who played Eun Dan-oh, with Lee Jae-wook as the second male lead. Rowoon told GQ Korea he had no wish to succeed overnight and felt lucky simply to be given the chance to audition. He even took tennis lessons for the role.

The drama became a hit with younger viewers, and his popularity soared almost overnight. He won Best New Actor at the 2019 MBC Drama Awards and at the Grimae Awards.

In 2020, he lent his voice to Branch in the Korean dub of the animated film Trolls World Tour, and made brief cameos in MBC’s Find Me in Your Memory and JTBC’s Was It Love?.

Leading Man Years (2021 to 2022)

Rowoon opened 2021 with JTBC’s office romance She Would Never Know, playing Chae Hyun-seung, a younger colleague at a cosmetics company who falls for his senior, Yoon Song-ah, played by Won Jin-ah. Lee Hyun-wook and Lee Joo-bin rounded out the main cast.

Later that year came the role that changed his standing. In KBS2’s historical romance The King’s Affection, he played Jung Ji-woon, the tutor and first love of a princess forced to live as a crown prince, portrayed by Park Eun-bin.

Nam Yoon-su, Choi Byung-chan, Bae Yoon-kyung and Jung Chae-yeon joined them in the cast. It was Rowoon’s first historical drama, and he worked carefully on his tone, gaze and gestures for the period setting.

The series swept him to three wins at the 2021 KBS Drama Awards, including Best New Actor, the Popularity Award and Best Couple with Park Eun-bin. He also sang “No Goodbye in Love,” the drama’s seventh OST track.

In November 2022, The King’s Affection made history as the first Korean series to win an International Emmy, taking the award for Best Telenovela.

That same year, he starred in MBC’s fantasy drama Tomorrow, based on a webtoon. He played Choi Jun-woong, a young man who joins an afterlife crisis team working to stop people from ending their lives, alongside Kim Hee-seon, Lee Soo-hyuk and Yoon Ji-on.

Leaving SF9 and Winning Top Excellence (2023)

In 2023, Rowoon starred in JTBC’s fantasy romance Destined with You, which aired from August to October. He played Jang Shin-yu, a lawyer weighed down by a family curse, opposite Jo Bo-ah as Lee Hong-jo, a civil servant who stumbles upon a book of spells. Ha Jun and Yoo Ra completed the main cast.

He also appeared as a guest in episode 8 of Netflix’s A Time Called You, which starred Ahn Hyo-seop and Jeon Yeo-been.

On September 18, 2023, FNC Entertainment announced that Rowoon would leave SF9 to focus on acting, while the other eight members renewed their contracts. Rowoon stayed with the agency as a solo actor.

At his first public event after leaving, he said that at 27 (Korean age) he wanted to take on a new challenge, and that he was ready to accept fans’ disappointment and criticism as part of growing.

That project was KBS2’s The Matchmakers, which premiered on October 30, 2023. He played Shim Jung-woo, a young widower once married to a princess, who teams up with a widowed matchmaker, Jung Soon-deok, played by Cho Yi-hyun, to arrange marriages for Joseon’s unwed men and women.

The comedy kept its top spot among Monday and Tuesday dramas and climbed past 5% in its final week. It brought Rowoon the biggest honour of his career, the Top Excellence Award at the 2023 KBS Drama Awards, along with the Popularity Award and Best Couple with Cho Yi-hyun.

Murky Stream, Japan and Hollywood (2024 to 2025)

In May 2024, Rowoon completed the script reading for The Murky Stream. The series later became Disney+’s first original Korean historical drama.

In March 2025, he made a surprise appearance at the 97th Academy Awards in Hollywood after being invited to attend.

The Murky Stream premiered on September 26, 2025. Rowoon played Jang Si-yul, a labourer hiding a dark past who joins a gang of rogues at Mapo port, starring with Shin Ye-eun as Choi Eun and Park Seo-ham as Jeong Cheon. Park Ji-hwan, Choi Gwi-hwa and Kim Dong-won led the supporting cast.

Rowoon called the role a major turning point for him as an actor, describing it as a gift that arrived when he was thirsty for a change. It won him the Rising Star Award at the 2025 Marie Claire Asia Star Awards.

The same year marked his first Japanese screen role. In the film The Last Man: First Love, released in Japan on December 24, 2025, he played Clyde Yoon, an FBI special agent who sees himself as a rival to Masaharu Fukuyama’s character, Minami. Yo Oizumi and Rie Miyazawa also starred.

Music, Hosting and Variety Shows

Away from drama sets, Rowoon became a regular face on stage as a host. He fronted the 2021 KBS Song Festival with Cha Eun-woo and Kim Seol-hyun, and hosted Music Bank in Chile in 2022, taking over from Park Bo-gum.

In 2023, he hosted the Music Bank Global Festival in Japan with Go Min-si and Lee Young-ji, and in Korea with IVE’s Jang Won-young. He closed the year hosting the 2023 KBS Drama Awards with Jang Sung-kyu and Seol In-ah, and later hosted KCON LA in July 2024.

His variety work began with OnStyle’s Lipstick Prince (2016 to 2017). In 2018, he joined tvN’s Cafe Amor with Yoo In-na, Lee Juck and Yang Se-hyung, travelled to Patagonia for SBS’s Law of the Jungle, and competed on MBC’s King of Mask Singer as “Owl.”

In 2021, he competed with SF9 on Mnet’s Kingdom: Legendary War. The following year, he hosted The Idol Band: Boy’s Battle with Nako Yabuki and joined Sung Dong-il and Kim Hee-won as the youngest member of tvN’s House on Wheels 4.

He has also been a sought-after brand model, working with names such as Klavuu, Gong Cha Korea, The North Face White Label and Estée Lauder.

Military Service and What Comes Next (2025 to 2026)

Rowoon was first set to enlist on July 21, 2025, but a pre-enlistment check returned a re-examination result. He appealed, passed the second check in August, and entered the army as an active-duty soldier on October 27, 2025.

Before leaving, he told TV Report that being forgotten for a while can also be important, and that the break did not worry him. He promised to come back and keep showing new sides of himself.

No new drama or film has been officially confirmed for after his discharge, and his exact discharge date is yet to be updated.

Rowoon Filmography

Rowoon’s screen work so far spans two films and fourteen television titles, most of them romances with a fantasy or historical twist. Read in order, the list shows a clear climb from small supporting parts to leading roles.

Rowoon Movies

Year	Title	Role	IMDb
2020	Trolls World Tour	Branch (Korean dub voice)	6.1
2025	The Last Man: First Love	Clyde Yoon	6.6

Rowoon TV Shows

Year	Title	Role	Platform	IMDb
2016	Click Your Heart	High school baseball ace	Prime Video	6.0
2017	School 2017	Kang Hyun-il	Zee5	7.5
2018	About Time	Choi Wi-jin	Rakuten Viki	6.9
2018	Where Stars Land	Ko Eun-sub	Netflix	7.2
2019	Extraordinary You	Ha-ru (Number 13)	Prime Video	7.7
2021	She Would Never Know	Chae Hyun-seung	Prime Video	7.4
2021	The King’s Affection	Jung Ji-woon	Netflix	8.0
2022	Tomorrow	Choi Jun-woong	Netflix	8.1
2023	Destined with You	Jang Shin-yu	Netflix	7.6
2023	A Time Called You	Tae-ha	Netflix	8.0
2023	The Matchmakers	Shim Jung-woo	Rakuten Viki	7.5
2025	The Murky Stream	Jang Si-yul	Disney+	7.4

Rowoon Awards and Achievements

Rowoon’s trophies have mostly come from two places: the year-end drama ceremonies of Korea’s big broadcasters, and fan votes that tracked his rising popularity. His biggest night came at the 2023 KBS Drama Awards, where he collected three awards and promised to keep learning with a humble attitude.

His Major Wins

• Korea First Brand Awards (2019): Won the Male Idol-Actor Award.
• Grimae Awards (2019): Won Best New Actor for Extraordinary You (2019).
• MBC Drama Awards (2019): Won Best New Actor for Extraordinary You (2019).
• Brand of the Year Awards (2020): Won Male Actor Idol of the Year.
• KBS Drama Awards (2021): Won Best New Actor, the Popularity Award (Actor), and Best Couple with Park Eun-bin for The King’s Affection (2021).
• Brand Customer Loyalty Awards (2022): Won Best Male Acting Idol.
• KBS Drama Awards (2023): Won the Top Excellence Award (Actor), the Popularity Award (Actor), and Best Couple with Cho Yi-hyun for The Matchmakers (2023).
• Korea First Brand Awards (2024): Won Male Actor (Rising Star).
• Dong-A.com’s Pick (2024): Won the Popularity Award.
• Marie Claire Asia Star Awards (2025): Won the Rising Star Award for The Murky Stream (2025).

His Key Nominations

• SBS Drama Awards (2018): Nominated for Best New Actor for Where Stars Land (2018).
• MBC Drama Awards (2019): Nominated for Best One-minute Couple with Kim Hye-yoon and Lee Jae-wook for Extraordinary You (2019).
• APAN Music Awards (2020): Nominated for Entertainer of the Year (Male).
• Brand Customer Loyalty Awards (2021): Nominated for Best Male Acting Idol.
• Brand of the Year Awards (2021): Nominated for Male Actor Idol of the Year.
• APAN Star Awards (2022): Nominated for the Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries, and the Popularity Star Award for The King’s Affection (2021).
• MBC Drama Awards (2022): Nominated for the Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries, for Tomorrow (2022).
• APAN Star Awards (2023): Nominated for Best Couple with Jo Bo-ah for Destined with You (2023), along with Global Star and the Popularity Award.
• Brand Customer Loyalty Awards (2024): Nominated for Male Actor (Hot Trend).

Other Recognitions

• International Emmy for The King’s Affection (2022): The drama he co-led became the first Korean series to win an International Emmy, taking Best Telenovela.
• Cine21 Industry Poll (2021): Ranked fifth among new actors expected to lead Korea’s screen industry in 2022, as chosen by 62 industry leaders.
• Forbes Korea 30 Under 30 (2024): Named in the Entertainment category of Forbes Korea’s 30 Under 30 list.
• Forbes Korea Pick Polls (2024 to 2025): Topped Forbes Korea’s reader polls for the celebrity enjoying a “career high,” the celebrity with both talent and personality, and the celebrity who seems born to be an entertainer.
• 97th Academy Awards Guest (2025): Attended the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood as an invited guest.
• Brand Ambassadorships: Has fronted campaigns for Klavuu, Gong Cha Korea, The North Face White Label, Estée Lauder, the skincare brand Ilso and Oligio Thailand, among others.

Rowoon Controversies

Rowoon has stayed largely free of serious scandal. The few storms around him have centred on busy schedules and his commitment to SF9, not personal wrongdoing.

• Injury and the schedule backlash (2020): In July 2020, FNC said a doctor had advised Rowoon to avoid intense movement after back and knee pain. When he turned up to a group schedule on crutches days later, fans blamed the agency for not protecting him.
• COVID vaccine remark (2021): At a November 2021 fan call, Rowoon said he had not been vaccinated because of his schedule, drawing criticism as he was about to host the KBS Song Festival. FNC replied that he had already booked his vaccination and asked people not to share clipped posts out of context.
• Leaving SF9 (2023): Some fans criticised him for missing SF9 promotions and fan events as his acting career grew. When he left the group in September 2023, he wrote a handwritten letter apologising to fans hurt by his passive attitude.

Rowoon Net Worth

Rowoon has never shared his earnings, and no Korean news outlet has reported his net worth or drama fee. His estimated net worth is around $15 million to $16 million (approx. ₹145 crore to ₹154 crore). These figures should be read as estimates rather than confirmed numbers.

Most of his income comes from acting. Since 2023, he has earned roughly $50,000 to $100,000 (approx. ₹48 lakh to ₹97 lakh) per episode for lead roles in dramas such as The King’s Affection, The Matchmakers and The Murky Stream.

He has also earned from seven years of music, concerts and fan events with SF9, and from endorsements with brands such as The North Face White Label, Estée Lauder, Klavuu and Gong Cha Korea. His screen work is currently on pause while he completes his military service.

Net Worth (Approx.)	$15 million to $16 million (approx. ₹145 crore to ₹154 crore)
Salary (Approx.)	$50,000 to $100,000 per episode (approx. ₹48 lakh to ₹97 lakh)

Rowoon Height, Weight and Physical Stats

Height	In centimetres: 190.5 cm In meters: 1.905 m In feet & inches: 6 feet 3 inches
Weight	In kg: 74 kg In lbs: 163 lbs
Body Measurements	Yet to be updated
Hair Color	Dark Brown
Eye Color	Dark Brown

Rowoon Social Media

Instagram

@ewsbdi

Interesting Facts about Rowoon

• A Name Picked by Vote: His stage name was not his own choice. Rowoon once asked FNC about it and learned that it had been chosen through a vote among many of the agency’s staff.
• The “Two Metres” Nickname: His SF9 bandmates teasingly called him “Imeda,” which means “2 metres” in Korean, because of his height and small face.
• A Height Wish That Came True: As a child, he wanted to grow to exactly 189 cm and drew a line on his wall every day to track his progress. He reached that mark exactly, then kept going to 190.5 cm.
• “Manner Legs” for Stylists: Photos from the set of Extraordinary You went viral in 2019 showing him spreading his legs wide or bending low so that shorter stylists could do his hair and makeup comfortably.
• A Weibo Debut That Broke Through: When he opened his Weibo account in November 2019, the hashtag of his name drew around 590 million views and ranked on Weibo’s real-time search chart, at a time when Korean stars faced restrictions in China.
• A Cameo Done for Free: Director Kim Jin-won revealed that Rowoon took no payment for his guest role in A Time Called You, appearing simply because he is good friends with lead actor Ahn Hyo-seop.
• His Own Toughest Critic: After Where Stars Land ended in 2018, he gave his own performance a score of just 30 points, saying he was not satisfied with how he had portrayed his character.

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