Aired in early 2010 on KBS2 with a length of 16 episodes, God Of Study received a positive response from the viewers both domestically and internationally.
Different from other coming-of-age dramas that focus on high school romance, God Of Study centers more on learning secrets as well as friendship, teacher-student relationships, and the efforts of students who are considered bad at studies. Looking at the average rating of 23.3% with 26.3% being its peak, perhaps there is no need to explain how popular this drama was.
14 years have passed, let’s take a look at the current whereabouts of the leading cast of God Of Study.
Go Ah Sung
In God Of Study, Go Ah Sung plays Gil Pul Ip who is in trouble because her mother is in an affair with a married man. In class, Gil Pul Ip is an outgoing, hard-working female student. Both male leads played by Yoo Seung Ho and Lee Hyun Woo have secret feelings for Pul Ip.
Her visuals may not be the most outstanding in the cast, but it is Go Ah Sung‘s natural and lovely acting that made this character well-loved, leaving a strong impression on the audience.
Thanks to her hard work over the years, Go Ah Sung’s ability has been acknowledged in the industry. Go Ah Sung is not a top actress in terms of public popularity, but she is highly appreciated by industry professionals.
Go Ah Sung’s acting awards are also impressive. In addition to winning Best New Actress in TV for the drama Heard It Through The Grapevine at the 2015 Baeksang Arts Awards, she was also nominated 3 times for Best Actress in Film at the Baeksang Arts Awards as well as the Blue Dragon when she was under 30 years old.
Currently, Go Ah Sung is greeting the viewers again through her latest small screen comeback in MBC’s ongoing drama Tracer, acting alongside Im Si Wan. Tracer currently has a fairly stable rating of over 7.5%.
Yoo Seung Ho
The character Hwang Baek Hyun played by Yoo Seung Ho has always been our favorite highschool heartthrob. Not only does he have a handsome bad boy style, he is also smart.
Hwang Baek Hyun is unarguably one of the most memorable roles of Yoo Seung Ho’s acting career. Starting out as a child actor, Yoo Seung Ho has all that it takes to succeed, from appearance, skills to experience. However, his career is showing signs of slowing down because he seems to always pick the wrong scripts.
Since MBC’s The Emperor: Owner Of The Mask in 2017, the works in which he starred in have not had significant success. The most disappointing is probably tvN’s Memorist in 2020 with an average rating of only 2.836%. His ongoing drama Moonshine was off to a promising start with a rating of 7.6%, has sadly failed to keep up its pace and recorded ratings of only around 5% in the latest episodes.
Yoo Seung Ho’s talent has always been recognized, but he needs a better hand in choosing the scripts. His choices of dramas have not benefited his career as Korean viewers nowadays have placed the importance of the screenplay above visuals or reputation, even the acting of the cast. Therefore, Hopefully Yoo Seung Ho will accept better offers in the future.
In 2024, Yoo Seung Ho decided to take a break from acting in television dramas and revealed the reason during his participation in the program Off The Grid.
In an interview, Yoo Seung Ho explained his reason for joining Off The Grid: “I feel like I often only appear in scripted situations. There are times when I find myself not knowing what to say without a script. Therefore, I want to change. I’m curious about what I look like when I’m not acting.”
In 2024, Yoo Seung Ho made his comeback on screen. Accordingly, Yoo Seung-ho will play Walter, an LGBTQ living a time-limited life, in the play “Angels in America – Part One: Millennium Coming Up,” showing an unconventional appearance as well as a careful inner transformation.
Lee Hyun Woo
Hong Chan Doo – the character that Lee Hyun Woo plays in this drama is an extremely likable male student with a bright smile and burning passion for dance. He and Hwang Baekhyun are two male students who have fallen in love with the female character played by Go Ah Sung.
Lee Hyun Woo and Yoo Seung Ho have a lot in common. Both are of the same age, used to be child actors, and their careers after “God Of Study” are not as successful as expected. Some of his outstanding works can be mentioned as Moorim School (2016) and The Liar and His Lover.
At the age of 29, Lee Hyun Woo is expected by fans to have a strong breakthrough. His future projects such as the two movies “Dream”, “Dog Days” and the Korean version of Netflix’s work – “Money Heist” have all received high expectations. Lee Hyun Woo has good looks, experience, and good acting ability, he deserves a better career than his current one.
In 2024, Lee Hyun Woo joined project ‘A Good Day to be a Dog’, featuring Cha Eun Woo and Park Gyu Young.
Park Ji Yeon
The success of God Of Study seems to be a big shadow, making it difficult for the actors to overcome in later films. Park Ji Yeon as the graceful schoolgirl Na Hyun Jung is one such example. Except for “Dream High 2”, which was said to be quite successful, other projects starring Park Ji Yeon such as Let Me Hear Your Song, Imitation all failed miserably.
Because of the conflict between the former members and the new member Hwa Young, her music career with T-Ara was cut short just as it was reaching its pinnacle. She was, however, fortunate in love. This winter, she will tie the knot with baseball player Hwang Jae Gyun and their good news was announced on February 10. After nearly 15 years of working in the entertainment industry, perhaps a peaceful and happy family life is the final destination that Park Ji Yeon is aiming for.
On December 10, 2024, Jiyeon officially tied the knot with the famous baseball player Hwang Jae Gyun. He was born in 1987, making him six years older than his wife. Jiyeon, the youngest member of T-ara, is the first in the group to get married. The happy marriage of the female idol has received many blessings and support from fans.
However, two years after their marriage, on October 5, the South Korean entertainment industry was abuzz with news that singer and actress Jiyeon and famous baseball player Hwang Jae Gyun had filed for divorce.
Initially, the South Korean media did not disclose the reasons for the couple’s separation.
Later that afternoon, Jiyeon’s lawyer, Choi Yuna, released an official press statement stating: “The two sides could not overcome their differences and have agreed to divorce after a period of separation. They have filed for divorce mediation with the Seoul Family Court.”
Jiyeon also made a statement: “First of all, I apologize for bringing you this unhappy news. We have agreed to proceed with mediation for divorce.I hope you understand that I cannot provide a prompt statement. I will do my best to return to you with a better image in the future.”
Bae Doo Na
From the role of an enthusiastic English teacher, after 12 years, Bae Doo Na has become a real star in the Korean entertainment industry and an internationally influential actress. Bae Doo Na not only resonated with impressive domestic films such as ‘Take Care of My Cat’, ‘Secret Forest’, and ‘Kingdom’, but Bae Doo Na also made a huge impression thanks to her international works like ‘Sense 8’, ‘Cloud Atlas’, or ‘Jupiter Ascending’.
The last series that she participated in was called ‘The Silent Sea‘. Although the series didn’t meet the public’s expectations, Bae Doo Na‘s acting in ‘The Silent Sea’ was still highly appreciated. In the near future, Bae Doo Na will continue to show her international reach through Netflix’s sci-fi movie called ‘Rebel Moon‘, produced by famous writer and director Zack Snyder. Bae Doo Na is truly one of the brightest representatives of the Korean film industry in the international field.
It is clear that after 14 years, the female cast of ‘God Of Study’ has a more stable overall situation than its male cast, whether in terms of career or personal life. Yoo Seung Ho and Lee Hyun Woo are two very talented actors so I really hope they will quickly regain their strength and have a successful career in the future as the public expected of them.