The latest Korean drama to hit Netflix, Black Knight, is already garnering a lot of attention. The series paints a dystopian world where your everyday delivery driver is now a combat-trained runway model (quite literally in this case), and instead of bringing you your oranges, milk, and Reese’s peanut butter cups, he is bringing you the oxygen you need to survive in this new hellscape. So who are the players in this series which asks the question: what if a DoorDash delivery was a little more like Mad Max?
Let’s get a little more context first of all, shall we? The year is 2071, 40 years since a comet landed on Earth, turning South Korea into a desert and polluting the air to such an extent that it is almost impossible to survive outside. Only one percent of the population still lives, and they have been separated into factions, general, specific, and core. Of course, here we see the rich and wealthy getting their usual privileged treatment whilst the rest suffer in horrific conditions (no one is surprised by this anymore, right?).
In this dystopian world, we have those known as Black Knights, delivery men who brave the wastelands to bring the necessities for survival, including clean oxygen, to those who can afford them. They drive across the treacherous landscape, fighting off bandits and well-armed groups to make their deliveries, not something we would see most Uber drivers doing these days. One of the most legendary of the Black Knights is our protagonist, 5-8, a man who realizes he can no longer service the needs of only a few whilst the rest suffer.
So who plays 5-8, as well as all the other players in this bleak world? Let’s take a look at the cast and where you may have seen them before.
5-8: Kim Woo-bin
Kim Woo-bin plays the exceedingly handsome and deadly 5-8. Kim started his career as a runway model in South Korea at the age of 20 and started appearing on runways at Seoul Fashion Week collections. This then started the transition to acting, taking classes and training before making his first appearance in 2011 in the mystery drama White Christmas.
He started to gain recognition in 2013, appearing in two hit series and a film, and received his first award, Best New Actor at the APAN Star Awards, a South Korean awards show celebrating excellence in television and movies. Kim worked steadily until he took a hiatus after being diagnosed with nasopharyngeal cancer. He made a triumphant return to the screen in 2022 with the show Our Blues and now the much-talked-about Black Knight.
His role as 5-8 has the internet a-flutter as many tune in to see what it would be like to get deliveries from a walking Calvin Klein model with kick-ass martial arts skills.
Yoon Sa-wol: Kang Yoo-seok
Kang Yoo-seok plays the role of the scrappy refugee boy, Yoon Sa-Wol. Sa-wol idolizes the couriers who brave the desert to deliver vital necessities and wants to follow in the footsteps of 5-8. Luckily for him, and to the tragedy of 5-8, a spot opens up and 5-8 decides to take Sa-wol under his wing to mentor him and prepare him for the Squid Game-like competition that is undertaken to find a new delivery driver.
Kang is a little newer on the block, with his first listed performance being the 2019 series Nal Nokyeojuo. He has appeared in a handful of series since then, but it looks like this will likely be his breakout role given all the attention the show has garnered so far.
Ryu Seok: Song Seung-heon
In contrast to Yoo-seok, Song Seung-heon has been around for some time and is a firm fixture in Korean and Japanese television. The actor started out as a model in the 90s before transitioning across to acting (we may believe that having model good looks is a requirement for Korean actors at this rate) and has appeared in numerous well-loved series and films since.
The first role for which he gained recognition was the popular drama Autumn in My Heart, a romantic melodrama that was so influential it started a trend for stories of the same thing in Korean television. Many of the roles he takes on are often gruff, masculine, and aggressive, and that seems to be the case here as he acts as the classic evil, rich villain whose disdain for everyone makes him easy to hate.
Jeong Seol-ah: Esom
Esom, otherwise known as Lee So-young, plays the character of Jeong Seol-ah, a capable military character and one of the only strong females in this series. She is an officer in the Defense Intelligence Command and is also close to the character of Sa-wol having saved his life and watching over him like an adoptive big sister. This is the setup we need to know that she is separate from the other scheming, uncaring, military and political types we meet throughout the show.
Esom first made a splash as the lead in the romantic 2014 film Scarlet Innocence, which earned her a slew of award nominations. She has since worked on a number of well-received Korean dramas including Taxi Driver, The Third Charm, and the film Samjin Company English Class.
Grandpa: Kim Eui-sung
Kim plays the sweet character of Grandpa, the lovable elderly character around all these young pretty things. He is a mechanic of great skill, able to fix almost anything, and also acts as Sa-wol’s guardian (this boy really does have a lot of people looking out for him).
Kim has been on the scene for some time and has appeared in a number of shows and films, and won a handful of awards, one of which was Best Supporting Actor in the incredibly popular film Train to Busan which gained global recognition.
Chae Jin-kyung, the President of South Korea: Jin Kyung
Jin is a face you will see over and over again if you are a fan of Korean films and dramas. The versatile actress is everywhere and in Black Knight plays South Korea’s President, Chae Jin-kyung. This is not the only K-drama that she has appeared in that has made a splash on Netflix in the last few years. She also appears in Extraordinary Attorney Woo as Tae Soo-mi, the sharp-minded, strong, and successful head of the most respected law firm in the country. Not such a shock then to see her in yet another high-powered role, as she radiates authority.
Jeong Seul-ah: Roh Yoon-seo
Jeung Seul-ah is the younger sister of Jeong Seol-ah (be careful not to get their names confused) and is played by actress Roh Yoon-seo. A little less composed than her older sister, she swoons a lot more of the character of 5-8 (a legitimate response). In a tough world where most of the characters are gruff and tough, her character brings softness.
Roh is very new to the game, having (once again) started off as a model in 2018 she starred in her debut role in Our Blues, the same series Kim Woo-bin appeared in once he returned to acting. Her next role was in the 2023 series Crash Course in Romance, and both roles saw her nominated and winning awards, including the Best New Actress – Television award at the 59th Baeksang Arts Awards.
These are all the major players in the series which has taken the world by storm, appearing in Netflix’s Top Ten charts in 83 countries. This show takes some of the tricks and story telling utilized by some of the most successful drama’s out there and manages to bring them all together in one season, an extraordinary feat. It may occasionally feel a little overstuffed at times, but reviews so far have been great, so add this to your watchlist if you want to see very attractive people survive after an apocalyptic event.
You can watch Black Knight now on Netflix.