When I fell in love with his work:
Word From Warm Heart
Though I vaguely remember my heart being broken by his character.

Where I didn't like his character...or any of the characters:
Fight My Way
Ugh, the arguing... negotiating... more arguing... selfish decisions... then more negotiating... then more selfishness... then more arguing... then starting a relationship destined to fail because of unrepentant selfishness and arguing.
*Yup. Still salty that this script made me drop one of his dramas.*

No question…hands down…Itaewon Class. My unqualified affection is more about me than him, but it’s partly about him. The dorky, but totally character-essential, haircut (the way he pets his hair to calm himself down!). The awkward relationships all over the place. The colors of the shots. The music. The revennnnnnge. The soft tofu stew. Chef’s kiss for me.

Fight my way!!

As much as I love Witch's romance (my first drama of his), I loved him here and the leads chemistry was on fire. I love how he brought Dong Man's friendship, love, vulnerability and fighting spirit on screen.

FIGHT FOR MY WAY.

OMG, first time I didn't hesitate to pick one drama. That show is my medicine.

Fight for my way, because…the story, the friendship group, the coach, and most importantly it’s a rom com with a happy ending

What's Wrong With Secretary Kim. Despite the creepy tragic backstory, detestable brother, and boss-secretary power dynamic, I still love this show. I give all the credit to Park Seo-Joon and Park Min-Young, both individually and as an off-the-charts-chemistry couple. PSJ found the warmth, humor, and vulnerability in a character who could have easily come off simply as an arrogant prick. And I thought the pair did an excellent job of making the couple feel like equal partners, despite the power imbalance. I also loved both of the families—especially how they defied the usual expectation that the groom's wealthy upper-class family would look down on the bride and her lower-class family (especially the hippie dad). What a pleasant surprise that they welcomed them with open arms!

My favorite drama with Park Seo-Joon in a supporting role is unquestionably Kill Me, Heal Me. Who can ever forget Poor Ri-On getting chased around for some hugs and kisses by Do-Hyun in his teen fangirl Yo-Na persona?

✨ AURA ✨ It's got to be What's Wrong With Secretary Kim - any one else would've made the ML character feel too wooden or annoying, but PSJ's charisma really shone and made the character so much more likeable.

I only have one - What's Wrong With Secretary Kim.

Park Seo Joon is one of my top-most favorite actors, but strangely I have only liked his character in Kill Me Heal Me.

BUT! I have watched Midnight Runners a million times, and it is one of my most favorite movies EVER! Can I choose a movie?

I’m pretty sad that I’ve only seen one Park Seo-joon drama, but not sad that it’s WWWSK, which I unapologetically loved start to finish. His narcissism? Endearing, especially when you could tell he was much more complex than he initially let on. The childhood trauma? I was unfazed by it, and apart from giving us an incredibly annoying SML did not detract from the story at all for me. I loved the journey that the leads went on separately, with her figuring out what she wanted to do with her life and him learning to hold her hand without holding her hostage.

This is easy, I’ve only finished one , I Summon You, Gold!

"it’s where he cast his turtle-boy spell on me" This! This is exactly why Witch's Romance is my pick as well. Tied for 2nd would be Fight My Way, ( terrific friends-to-lovers done so well), and What's Wrong With Secretary Kim because the chemistry was off the charts.

It's a tough call between Witch's Romance and She Was Pretty, but I'm going with She Was Pretty. I second everything @daebakgrits said about it as far as my reasons for choosing this one over his other dramas.

I'm gonna be crucified for this, but I don't like him much. No dislike either, just a strong indifference - if such feeling can even be strong. His acting is ok, his visuals are not my cup of tea, his famous charm doesn't work on me at all and he cannot do sageuk to save his life which is truly the final nail in the coffin. I watched quite a few shows of his, so I'm positive it isn't the case of wrong first impression, we're just not meant to be at all))) Now for a drama... KMHM, I guess, that was the most fun one I've seen, even if not because of him. Pls no more fauxcest romances tho - previous 2 were already 2 too many.

Fight My Way for the win!!!!

I like Fight My Way a lot, but I have to give the nod to his performance in What's Wrong With Secretary Kim. The character could easily have been just annoying instead of preeningly comical, and now I can't imagine anyone else in that role. Also, I like the side characters and their little romances more in What's Wrong With Secretary Kim.

I’ve liked PSJ in pretty much everything I’ve seen him in but I stopped swooning when I decided he’s a dead ringer for actress Kim Sun-Young 🤣🤣🤣

Really tough choices on this one but WITCHES ROMANCE is the winner- but only just by a nose over WHAT'S WRONG WITH SECRETARY KIM and SHE WAS PRETTY. All three are fabulous dramas.

I initially thought this was going to be difficult to answer, but no matter how much I analyze and rationalize, my heart keeps saying 'Witch's Romance'. Fun, mature, respectful to the characters -- it's so endearing in so many ways. And the chemistry was sizzling!

DREAM HIGH S2! (Nah I’m joking, I didn’t even watch that drama)

FIGHT MY WAY I guess? I have to rewatch it again but I remember enjoying it. I’m not the biggest fan of Park Seo-joon, he is good but most of his projects are meh to me. Honestly the scene that stuck me the most is actually Choi Woo-shik’s cameo! I desperately want Choi Woo-shik to play a jerk again, he’s so fun to watch, but yes I acknowledge this is not his thread 😅

Honourable Mention goes to MIDNIGHT RUNNERS. It’s the only other project I like from Park Seo-joon (that I’ve seen). His buddy cop chemistry with Kang Ha-neul is definitely a treat to watch.

A Witch’s Romance for me too. Not because it’s his best drama (tho it’s a good one, with UJH as well). But because his character in that was my first ever kdrama crush.

It’s what everyone said, solid and swoony—setting up impossible standards for real men to live up to. Oh and that smile, those longing looks. Quick, someone get me smelling salts.

But what’s a turtle boy @missvictrix? I looked it up and it’s a statue in Worcester, Mass. I can only guess you mean hard on the outside and soft on the inside?

That is pretty eafy for me as no matter how many dramas I watch for Park Seo-joon I don't think I will like it more than She was pretty. It had all the ingredients I love especially how ML fell in love in FL for herself without knowing she is the one he is looking for. Also the bromance with the SML was funny to watch. Our absent minded vice editor in chief wins the day.

PSJ is a phenomenal actor.

His acting job in Itaewon Class was s your de force acting job.

However, WWWSK is my favorite of his roles. The transformation he so beautifully achieves from arrogant, self-centered CEO to kind, considerate, head-over-heels in love man who remembered and never broke a promise made to the woman he secretly loved and watched over is fantastic.

This is too hard! I like every PSJ drama even though there’s something about every one that I really dislike - the ex in Witch’s Romance, the brother in WWWSK and so on. So I will just go w Witch’s Romance as it’s where he first JUMPED off the screen and into my heart 🥰

During the lockdowns, my first dip into the k-drama pool was a PSJ festival (WWWSK, She Was Pretty, Fight For My Way). I choose Fight For My Way for the banter, the childish fights, the chemistry, wrapped in friendship. When Dong-Man confessed to Ae-ra and Kim Ji-Won made her knees buckle, I felt that.
I also think that FFMW was the k-drama that made me dive deeper into the pool and I haven't surfaced since. I asked my friends how to get out of the k-drama pool and they replied that I can't (or I won't?).

My first memory of Park Seo-Jun was in I Remember MV by Bang Yong-Guk, then in the drama Dream High 2 that never was as good as the first one.

On the other hand, it's very easy to choose the worst : Hwarang.

I am torn since I like a few of his dramas like Fight For My Way, WWWSK and Itaewon Class. But if I have to choose one, I enjoyed watching Itaewon Class the most.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH SECRETARY KIM? This drama spreads so much good humour that I like to watch it every now and then when I need cheering up.
But also SHE WAS PRETTY will always have a place in my heart, as it was one of my first KDramas.
From a purely visual point of view, PSJ is not really to my taste, but his charisma and charm quickly make me forget this.

I have to go with the first drama I saw him in which is Fight For My Way.

Back then, I had just started out in the kdrama scene and only watched a handful of dramas, DOTS being my first.
I was broadening my range and trying out different genres where I stumbled upon Fight for my way.
Honestly, PSJ didn't stick out to me initially tillI got to the mid-way point of the series and I loved how he portrayed the character. I also loved their friendship with each other and their shenanigans from living so close to each other.
I got to see Ji-won in a completely different role from DOTS (she was quite serious) and she did SO well with it.

As a marvel fan, I cant WAIT to see him in his upcoming Hollywood debut, The Marvels!

Fight my Way! 💖
Everything that has been said and more. The setting, the characters, the cinematography. It was relatable and at the same time admirable. Park Seo-joon is both very charming and talented, and he devotes it all to a role. Witch's Romance is still on the list and now that UJH is back It'll be nice to see them in a proper Noona-Romance.

My first thought was that I loved every drama I've seen him in with the exception of one that I wish to forget. She was Pretty should've never been made. Not even his charm could've saved the awful writing. It completely missed the message that the source has conveyed so well.

Kill Me Heal Me. Oh Ri On & Yoo Na. just dead. those scenes made me howl, it is hard to top the reaction. also there was actual crowd when they filmed the run along the street. I just cannot. all other dramas are something any actor might do again and again but that was a once in life experience that will probably never get repeated.

I couldn't last through all of Itaewon Class, even though I like all the actors. I started thinking, "this was a comic first, wasn't it," and dropped it half way through.

Reading through the comments here, I'm appreciating Park Seo-Joon as an actor. The truth is, he manages to bring warmth to every character. I could believe he was raised in a working poor household in Fight My Way and I could believe he was a chaebol in What's Wrong with Secretary Kim.

I have to say, WWWSK has to win. There are so many characters in k-dramas who was jerks because of a terrible secret, and it never makes sense--but Seo-Joon's acting made it make sense in that drama. I believed he loved Secretary Kim all along. There was some moment where I thought, "Oh, his real arrogance is believing that he is strong enough to absorb the trauma for everyone else!" I always say this, but acting is magic. I think he and Park Minyoung successfully steered that show from the initial silly comedy through the dark (but to me satisfying) backstory, back to comedy-in-the-sense-that-everyone-pairs-off at the end. They both brought a lot of warmth and innocence to their characters.

I am developing a whole theory about why the tragic backstories are important and even necessary in k-dramas, but I feel like I should have read some literary criticism of Korean literature first. I do have some books here.

She Was Pretty had a lot of great moments, but got very frustrating. I'll say Secretary Kim. Even though the main couple got kind of boring for me, they had a lot of great side couples that kept my interest enough until the final episode.

How it started: PSJ with The Most Awful Hair in Hwarang. Obviously his acting n face shined thru n i fell down the ever-waiting rabbit hole. Anyway, if i could only pick one drama of his, it’s definitely Fight My Way.

Only drama i finished for PSJ Itaewon Class..

I am probably the outlier here,but Park Seo Joon,while I respect him as an actor, is not someone I would watch a series for. That's rich coming from someone whose very first K-drama was a Park Seo Joon one - What's wrong with Sec Kim. Followed it with Hwarang (hated almost everything about that show with the singular exception of stunning Park Hyung Sik). I dropped Itawon class after four episodes, dropped She was pretty after 10 episodes....however I do love him as the person he is after watching him in Jenny's Kitchen and In the Soop. Especially in one instance in the Friendcation series, when they are all eating after a deep sea fishing trip, Woo-Shik makes this weird joke about baby fish, Hyung-Sik laughs at it, and Seo Joon gets truly offended at both of them (so does V). Seo-Joon asks Hyung Sik not to laugh at such jokes and V asks him if he (PHS) finds it funny. Hyung Sik immidiately tries to bashfully pretend otherwise (very unconvincingly). However, Woo Shik does not stop, eventually extracting a disgusted laugh from Seo Joon and rest of them (while PHS finally gives out his trademark hearty laugh he had been supressing out of respect). It was quite a funny but sweet moment and clearly shows he drives the group. In Jenny's Kitchen, he takes himself as the Chef very very seriously. If people didn't know better (and many of the customers had no idea), Seo Joon could easily have been mistaken as a professional chef (and V and Woo Sik as waiters, go figure lol!).

Last year I started Hwarang but I dropped it in the sixth episode.
And I saw Park Seo Joon's cameo in Parasite.
That's all for now 😅

I have Fight for my way in my "plan to watch" list but I never find the moment to start it.
I'm not very interested in other dramas where he starred in, not even in What's wrong with secretary Kim.

I have not watched him in variety shows either, but he seems a really nice guy. A pair of friends of mine have a crush on him. He is so popular! I have watched him in many photos and he is undoubtly photogenic ... but for whatever reason, he's not my type.

I fell in love with Park Seo-joon in What's wrong with secretary Kim and that was one of the few things I loved about that drama. I still can't think of an actor who'd be able to make such a character as obnoxiously cute.

But my favourite drama with PSJ is definitely Fight My Way. The excellent use of the friends-to-lovers trope, the OST, the T-shirts. It is one of my top 10 dramas.

I've only seen Park Seo Joon in two dramas, She Was Pretty (one of my most recent watches, and I regret sleeping on this drama when it came out) and Witch's Romance (watched while it aired and loved it but hated everything around the fiancé coming back, I need to do a rewatch). I'll leave the floor to people who've seen more of his work, but I definitely liked him in both of the above dramas and look forward to watching more of his stuff.

I am actually rewatching WWWSK right now! Lol. It is a go to for me when I am experiencing anxiety. I don't know why but there are a few K-dramas that I can rewatch that calm me down and this is, strangely, one of them. I also love his movie Divine Fury.
I don't think it matters what his character is in any show he seems to give 110% to it (and his looks don't hurt either LOL). 😁

Park Seo Joon is one of my favorites so I've seen almost everything of his that's available in my region.
My pick has got to be Hwarang.
... hehehe just kidding!! I finished that show but it really was a trainwreck, especially the female lead! 🤪
My favorite is Fight My Way. I loved the friendships in this one, the friends to lovers storyline, and the feel good vibe. It's one that I've revisited after watching a more intense, dark, or emotionally draining show.
I was watching Itaewon Class last Oct when news of the Halloween crowd crush came out, so I enjoyed this show but there was that tinge of sadness too, especially with the Halloween scene. WWWSK was fun (Aura!!) and I appreciated the sister character who was not thin as a beanpole! Witch's Romance and She Was Pretty were also good shows. Hope we can see the film Dream soon.

Itaewon Class