Actor Kang Tae-oh, who rose to stardom after starring as the male lead in the hit ENA series “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” (2022), begins his mandatory military service today. Kang will be admitted to the Army boot camp in Jeungpyeong County in North Chungcheong this afternoon for three weeks of basic military training. He’ll serve in the army until March 2024.

On Monday, Kang posted a picture of himself with a shaved head and said goodbye to his fans.

“Thank you so much for so much love. I’ll be back soon, well and healthy,” he wrote.

During a TikTok fan meeting he had on Aug. 31 to meet with fans all over the world, the 28-year-old actor said he will soon serve in the military service that all able-bodied young men in Korea are required to do for two years.

He said he’ll always be the same actor Kang Tae-oh when he comes back after two years, “just like the hackberry tree in Sodeok-dong’s ‘Extraordinary Attorney Woo,’ so please wait for me.”

In the hit drama series, Kang played Jun-ho whose relationship with the lead character Woo Young-woo takes a romantic turn. The 16-episode drama, which was also aired on Netflix, took the No. 1 spot on Netflix’s 10 most-watched non-English series for most of July and until it ended in August.

Kang debuted in 2013 with a web drama “After School: Lucky or Not Together.” His acting skills began to draw attention after appearing in historical drama series including “The Tale of Nokdu” (2019), as well as hit series such as “My First First Love” (2019) on Netflix.

BY YIM SEUNG-HYE [yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr]