Twenty years into his career, So Ji-sub still knows how to make an entrance. Agent Kim Reactivated casts him as an ordinary, middle-aged man with glasses who works as a bank employee. But his black-ops past comes roaring back the moment his daughter is taken. If this drama is your first real look at him, or it’s simply left you wanting more, these five dramas give a glimpse into his acting range.

1. I’m Sorry, I Love You (2004)

• Director: Lee Hyeong-min  
• IMDb rating: 8.2/10
• Where to Watch: Kocowa, OnDemandKorea 

Plot: Cha Moo-hyuk (So Ji-sub) is a man who was abandoned in childhood. He reunites with the mother who once gave him up, only to learn shortly after that he’s terminally ill. Im Soo-jung plays Song Eun-chae, the woman who unexpectedly falls in love with him along the way. This early-2000s melodrama remains a genre touchstone.

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2. The Master’s Sun (2013)

• Director: Jin Hyuk  
• IMDb rating: 8/10
• Where to Watch: Rakuten Viki, Netflix

Plot: Tae Gong-sil (Gong Hyo-jin), who begins seeing ghosts after a near-fatal accident, discovers that spirits vanish the instant she touches cold, materialistic conglomerate CEO Joo Joong-won (So Ji-sub). As the two reluctantly team up to guide restless souls onward, they stumble into a kidnapping case buried in Joong-won’s past. 

3. Oh My Venus (2015)

• Director: Kim Hyung-suk and Lee Na-jeong  
• IMDb rating: 7.7/10
• Where to Watch: Rakuten Viki, OnDemandKorea

Plot: Kang Joo-eun (Shin Min-a), a once-celebrated beauty now an overworked and unhealthy lawyer, hires celebrity personal trainer Kim Young-ho (So Ji-sub), who is secretly grappling with a serious health condition of his own. What starts as a fitness overhaul gradually turns into something far more personal. 

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4. Mercy For None (2025)

• Director: Choi Sung-eun
• IMDb Ratings: 7.5/10
• Where to Watch: Netflix

Plot: In Mercy For None, a former enforcer, Nam Gi-jun (played by So Ji-sub), severs ties with his gang and leaves his violent past behind. But he is forced back into Seoul’s underworld when his younger brother is mysteriously murdered. He embarks on a brutal path of revenge to uncover the truth.

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5. Doctor Lawyer (2022)

• Director: Lee Yong-seok  
• IMDb Rating: 7.2/10
• Where to Watch: Hulu

Plot: Han Yi-han (So Ji-sub) is a gifted surgeon who is wrongly blamed for a patient’s death and stripped of his medical license. He then reinvents himself as a lawyer. He teams up with prosecutor Shin Ye-ji (Im Soo-hyang) to hold negligent doctors and hospitals accountable, while Shin Sung-rok plays the hospital director shielding those responsible. 

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