Korean Actor Spotted Working At Warehouse Sorting Goods; Agency Clarifies It's Not A Full-Time Job

Last week, posts began circulating on social media claiming that Korean actor Im Ju Hwan, 43, had been spotted working as a day labourer at a logistics centre in Incheon in South Korea. 

The original poster said they had worked alongside Ju Hwan at the Coupang logistics site last August and guessed he may have been “bored because he didn’t have [an acting] project.”

Coupang is a Korean e-commerce company, and is often described to be the equivalent to Amazon in South Korea. 

They added that “some people even got his autograph” and said they had heard he had also worked at other warehouses, performing tasks such as packing, sorting goods, and managing inventory.

Others who said they had spotted the actor also chimed in, adding that Ju Hwan “worked really hard” and kept a low profile during his time at the warehouse before leaving.

Ju Hwan, who made his acting debut in 2003, is known for roles in popular dramas including Oh My Ghost! (2015), Uncontrollably Fond (2016) and The Bride of Habaek (2017). His most recent on-screen project was the 2023 series Three Bold Siblings, and since then he has appeared in stage plays such as Pride, which ran last year.

The posts about Ju Hwan working at the logistics centre quickly went viral, with many netizens expressing support for Ju Hwan. Some opined that there’s nothing wrong with actors taking on other work during breaks between projects.

Ju Hwan’s agency, Basecamp Company, later addressed the reports. Speaking to Korean media, they stated: "It's true that during a past gap between projects, he worked at a Coupang logistics centre."

According to reports, Ju Hwan is no longer working the part-time job and is currently preparing for his next acting project.

Just yesterday (Mar 3), Ju Hwan posted on Instagram about attending a Shiseido pop‑up store event held at a department store in Seoul. Dressed in a black leather jacket with a neat haircut, he looked every bit the polished actor fans are used to seeing on television.

Though it came as a surprise to some that an established actor like Ju Hwan had taken on temporary work at a logistics centre, he received plenty of support from fans, many of whom said they would cheer him on in future projects.