Michelle Topham 
The Korean Business Research Institute has released the January Actor Brand Reputation Rankings and actress Shin Hye Sun is at #1 on the list.
She is followed by four other women, with an all-female group taking the top five positions in the Korean actor rankings.
Rankings that, by the way, are different than both the Drama Actor Brand Reputation Rankings and the Film Actor Brand Reputation Rankings, which are separate rankings that will also be coming out at a different time.
(Yes, this whole “rankings” thing in South Korea is a bit of a racket, and doesn’t honestly mean a whole heckuva lot to most people on the planet except for, possibly, the people who rank in the top spots. But there ya go. It is what it is).
That being said — Shin Hye Sun is probably pleased that she is at #1 on the January Actor Brand Reputation Rankings.
A ranking she earned primarily for her work on the recently ended K-drama Welcome to Samdalri and the attention that afforded her.
Jang Nara, who is the star of the ongoing My Happy Ending, is at #2, while Park Min Young who is currently starring in the hit drama series Marry My Husband, is at #3.
Finishing out the Top 5, we have Song Ha Yoon, who is also starring in Marry My Husband at #4, with My Demon‘s Kim Yoo Jung in the #5 spot.
As per usual, the rankings are created with data that looks at the amount of media coverage an actor gets, as well as their participation, interaction, and community indexes, including mentions on social media — this time, for the time period of December 30th to January 30th.
It is interesting to see so many women making it to the Top 10, however, with the men ranked quite a bit below them.
Finishing out the Top 10, we have mainly men — Welcome to Samdalri’s Ji Chang Wook at #6, Boyhood‘s Im Si Wan in the #7 spot, My Demon’s Song Kang at #8, Na In Woo who is currently starring in Marry My Husband at #9 and, the only woman in the bottom half of the Top 10, Honey Lee, star of the popular ongoing drama Knight Flower, at #10.
In other words, women took six of the Top 10 spots in the Korean actor rankings.
As it should be, eh?
As I intimated, though, some of these actors and actresses, all of whom are starring or have recently starred in dramas, will also soon appear on the upcoming Drama Actor Brand Reputation Rankings, which should also be out soon.
About the Author
Rachel M. Reeves 
