SEOUL – The Korean Business Research Institute has published its drama actor brand reputation rankings for the period between May 16 and June 16, 2026.
These rankings quantify the commercial viability and public visibility of actors, utilizing big data to measure influence across digital and traditional media. For industry stakeholders, these indices provide data-driven insights into talent marketability, which frequently informs sponsorship valuations and casting strategies for upcoming productions. The findings land at a time when Korean drama exports are a significant cultural and commercial asset for South Korea, sitting alongside policies under the Framework Act on the Promotion of Cultural Industries that encourage the growth and international reach of the screen sector.
Performance Metrics and Sentiment Data
Heo Nam Jun, who appears in the series “My Royal Nemesis,” ranked first with a brand reputation index of 6,961,862. The institute’s positivity-negativity analysis recorded a 94.05 percent positive reaction rate for the actor, underscoring not only broad public recognition but also a strongly favorable sentiment profile that advertisers and platforms closely monitor.
Keyword analysis for Heo identified “My Royal Nemesis,” “Lim Ji Yeon,” and “rom-com blue chip stock” as high-ranking phrases. The institute further identified “charming,” “powerful,” and “handsome” as the highest-ranking related terms, highlighting how character archetypes and on-screen chemistry are being translated into measurable data points for commercial decision-making.
Top-Tier Market Engagement
Building on Heo’s strong showing, the upper tier of the rankings points to a tightly clustered group of leads anchoring recent drama releases.
Park Ji Hoon, starring in “The Legend of Kitchen Soldier,” followed in second place with an index of 6,080,469. Lim Ji Yeon, also a lead in “My Royal Nemesis,” ranked third with a brand reputation index of 5,497,553, reinforcing the series’ current pull with both domestic and international audiences.
The fourth and fifth positions were held by Koo Kyo Hwan, recently featured in “We Are All Trying Here,” and Byeon Woo Seok, who appeared in “Perfect Crown,” with indices of 5,205,421 and 5,125,346, respectively. Together, the top five underline how a small cohort of actors is concentrating a disproportionate share of viewer attention, a dynamic that can influence investment decisions from production greenlights to overseas remake rights.
Watch Heo Nam Jun in “A Hundred Memories” with subtitles on Viki below:
Or watch “The Legend of Kitchen Soldier” below:
Methodology, Industry Use, and Data Selection
The institute determined these rankings through the analysis of 100 actors who appeared in dramas aired during the specified timeframe. The final index is derived from four primary metrics: media coverage, participation, interaction, and community indexes. While the methodology is not a regulatory standard, it increasingly functions as an informal benchmark for networks, streaming platforms, and advertising agencies as they allocate marketing budgets and negotiate appearance fees.
Because brand reputation scores draw heavily on measurable interaction and community response, they also serve as a proxy for audience trust and sustained engagement-factors that national cultural agencies and broadcasters weigh when assessing export potential and public support for content funding schemes. In an ecosystem where intellectual property, image rights, and endorsement contracts are tightly governed, data-driven rankings such as these help align private investment decisions with broader policy aims to expand Korea’s cultural footprint.
The comprehensive top 30 rankings for June 2026 are as follows:
- Heo Nam Jun
- Park Ji Hoon
- Lim Ji Yeon
- Koo Kyo Hwan
- Byeon Woo Seok
- Go Youn Jung
- Kim Hye Yoon
- Park Bo Young
- Oh Jung Se
- Park Eun Bin
- Chae Won Bin
- Han Dong Hee
- Park Hae Soo
- Jeon So Young
- Kang Mina
- Lee Jun Young
- Ahn Hyo Seop
- Choi Ji Su
- Lee Sang Yi
- Lee Hee Joon
- Jang Seung Jo
- Lee Kwang Soo
- Shin Ha Kyun
- Kim Sung Cheol
- Jin Se Yeon
- Song Geon Hee
- Seo Ji Hye
- Lee Hong Nae
- Jeon Hye Jin
- Park Hae Joon
The rankings reflect data analyzed for the period concluding June 16, 2026, offering studios, regulators, and global distributors a snapshot of which performers currently carry the greatest measurable influence within the fast-evolving Korean drama market.