[Kim Min-su's Instagram]
[Kim Min-su's Instagram]

Kim Min-su, the actor who gained recognition playing Jonathan in the 2015 MBC drama series "Apgujeong Midnight Sun," has shared an update on his life after leaving acting — now running a group-buying brokerage firm as its CEO.

Kim said Friday on his Threads account that he currently heads the firm.

He described the business as a behind-the-scenes operation that connects influencers with manufacturers for group-buying campaigns. "We find influencers on social media who have strong selling power, select products suited for group buys, and bring together the manufacturer and the influencer so they can sell together," he said.

The company earns revenue through commissions based on a percentage of sales. Kim said his annual sales last year reached 4.7 billion won ($3.37 million), adding that a single kitchenware group-buy campaign once generated 400 million won in sales over four days.

Kim Min-su as Jonathan in the drama series "Apgujeong Midnight Sun" [MBC]
Kim Min-su as Jonathan in the drama series "Apgujeong Midnight Sun" [MBC]

Before building his current business, Kim said he had stepped away from acting due to personal circumstances and worked as a designated driver and a Coupang Inc. early-morning delivery worker.

"You really never know where life takes you," he wrote. "Someone who graduated from Seoul Institute of the Arts with a theater degree and married the female lead in a daily drama was, five years later, standing in an alley in Namyangju clutching his phone trying to grab a designated-driver call — and five years after that, became the head of a vendor company that has run 1,500 group-buy campaigns." He went on to say: "When I was acting, I had no idea. When I was doing designated driving, I had even less of one. So now I treat every opportunity that comes my way as if it's the last."

Kim appeared in the 2015 MBC drama series "Apgujeong Midnight Sun," written by Im Seong-han, in the prominent role of Jonathan — a character whose sudden death drew wide attention, a hallmark of Im's distinctive storytelling style.


paq@heraldcorp.com