Han Ji-pyeong (, ) is a fictional character from the South Korean television series Start-Up. Directed by Oh Chung-hwan, the 16-episode series aired on tvN from October 17 to December 6, 2020, every Saturday and Sunday, while simultaneously released on Netflix in 50 countries.
The character was created by series screenwriter Park Hye-ryun and portrayed by two actors: Kim Seon-ho as an adult and Nam Da-reum as a teenager. He is introduced first as an adult in the pilot episode, a venture capitalist working as a team leader at SH Venture Capital, known as the "genius investor" and the "Gordon Ramsay of the investment world," a nickname attributed to his sharp-tongued demeanor. The episode also includes a flashback to his teenage years as an orphan transitioning out of foster care. By the series's conclusion, Ji-pyeong is promoted to executive director at the same company and becomes an angel investor for a social startup.
Ji-pyeong's narrative is noted for its literary parallel to Cyrano de Bergerac: as a teenager, he becomes the long-lost pen pal of protagonist Seo Dal-mi under the pseudonym "Nam Do-san." Fifteen years later, he recruits the real Nam Do-san to maintain the deception, creating a love triangle while mentoring their startup. This storyline sparked widespread "Second Lead Syndrome," with many viewers expressing favor for Ji-pyeong over the male lead.
Critically acclaimed, the character was named one of the "Characters of the Year" at the Seoul International Drama Awards. Kim Seon-ho's performance earned him a nomination for Best Supporting Actor – Television at the 57th Baeksang Arts Awards and won him the fan-voted Popular Actor Award at the same ceremony. He also received the Emotive Award at the Asia Artist Awards and an Actor Award at the Brand Customer Loyalty Awards. The role significantly raised Kim's public profile, leading to his inclusion on the 2021 Forbes Korea Power Celebrity 40 list.
Characterization
Han Ji-pyeong is one of the main characters in the television series Start-Up. The story centers on young entrepreneurs at Sandbox, a fictional startup accelerator in Seoul, mirroring Silicon Valley. Han is introduced in the pilot episode as at SH Venture Capital, the investment firm that oversees and manages Sandbox under a shared leadership structure headed by CEO Yoon Seon-hak.
Ji-pyeong is characterized as a genius investor and the "Gordon Ramsay of the investment world" within the series' universe. This reputation stems from his ability to identify high-potential startups and a direct communication style defined by blunt, rigorous evaluations of business proposals. His status as a leading professional executive is further established by his features in men's magazines.
Ji-pyeong's professional success as a venture capitalist is defined by a multi-million dollars salary and the ownership of Mercedes-Benz vehicles. He resides in a luxury apartment overlooking the Han River. In his apartment, he installed Jang Yeong-sil, the Jiphyeonjeon Tech AI speaker that functioned as a smart secretary and home automation. He frequently asks the device questions, receiving a mixture of nonsensical and insightful advice. These interactions with an AI character highlight his underlying loneliness and social isolation, contrasting his wealth with a lack of meaningful human connection.
Storyline Backstory
In the pilot episode, "Start-Up," Ji-pyeong appears as a featured speaker at a Sandbox startup lecture alongside CEO Yoon Seon-hak (Seo Yi-sook) and guest speaker Won In-jae (Kang Han-na). During the session, he recognizes Seo Dal-mi (Bae Suzy) in the audience, triggering a flashback to fifteen years prior. At age 17, Ji-pyeong was an orphan transitioning out of foster care. His situation was marked by a stark contrast: he had won a national investment competition with a prize of 100 million won in "cyber money," yet he remained cash-strapped because the prize could not be converted into real money. With only a two million won government stipend, he was unable to secure an apartment until he was taken in by Choi Won-deok, a corn dog vendor who provided him with shelter in her shop.
Won-deok affectionately nicknamed him and, at her request, Ji-pyeong began a correspondence with her granddaughter, Dal-mi. Using the pseudonym "Nam Do-san," a name he borrowed from a local math prodigy, his letters provided Dal-mi with emotional support following her parents' divorce. During his one year living at the corn dog shop, Ji-pyeong managed Won-deok's eight million won in savings, increasing the capital tenfold through stock investments. He intended to use these gains for his university education, but a misunderstanding arose when he wrongly accused Won-deok of withdrawing the funds to support her son's business. Despite prior conflict, Won-deok still went to the bus station to see him off, gave him a new pair of shoes, and offered him an open invitation to return in times of hardship before he departed for Seoul to begin his studies.
Mentorship and love triangle arc Following the Sandbox lecture, Ji-pyeong tracks Dal-mi to locate Won-deok and visits her food truck the next day. They reunite after fifteen years. Won-deok declines his offer to purchase her a store, prompting Ji-pyeong to provide his business card as an assurance of future assistance. Meanwhile Dal-mi's scheme to forge a relationship with "a successful Nam Do-san" to impress her sister In-jae, turns into a liability when In-jae invites her and her "boyfriend" to a networking event. At Won-deok's request, Ji-pyeong helps find the real Nam Do-san. Ji-pyeong persuades Do-san to pose as Dal‑mi's childhood pen pal by lending him the letters he has kept for years. Do-san agrees only if his start-up, Samsan Tech, is allowed into Sandbox. Citing a conflict of interest, Ji-pyeong refuses. Still, touched by the letters, Do-san attends the event anyway.
The lie triggers a domino effect. Do-san applies to the 12th Sandbox hackathon on his own merits, and when Dal-mi and In-jae discover that he is not the successful CEO he claimed to be, both sisters still try to recruit him. The Samsan Tech team joins Dal‑mi, with Dal-mi serving as their CEO. Once the team is accepted into Sandbox, Dal-mi selects Ji-pyeong as their mentor. During the accelerator program, Samsan Tech develops NoonGil, an artificial intelligence application for the visually impaired. Ji-pyeong maintains a blunt professional standard, criticizing the application's high burn rate and lack of a revenue model while guiding Dal-mi on leadership strategy. Their relationship is complicated by the letter deception: Won‑deok forbids Ji‑pyeong from telling Dal‑mi the truth. The resulting tension sparks a romantic rivalry between Ji‑pyeong and Do‑san. On the eve of Demo Day, Dal-mi discovers the deception and confronts him. Ji-pyeong later confesses his romantic feelings to her.
On Demo Day, a co-founder of Samsan Tech blames Ji-pyeong's past critiques for a family tragedy. Severely affected by the accusation, Ji-pyeong is absent from the event. During his absence, and following their victory at Demo Day, Samsan Tech secures an acquihire offer from Alex Kwon of 2STO. Unaware of the negotiations, Ji-pyeong is unable to intervene before the signing of a predatory contract that recruits the engineers but excludes Dal-mi and the team's designer. Upon discovering that Won-deok's deteriorating eyesight has made her dependent on the NoonGil application, Ji-pyeong negotiates with 2STO to ensure the project's continued maintenance before the engineers depart for Silicon Valley.
Three years later, Ji‑pyeong has risen to . He remains a trusted colleague of Dal‑mi, who has become CEO of Cheongmyeong Company. When Nam Do-san returns, the rivalry over Dal-mi resumes. Seeking closure, Ji-pyeong requests that Do-san return the childhood letters and eventually withdraws from the competition, clarifying to Dal-mi that he is not the "Nam Do-san from the letters." In the series finale, Ji-pyeong encounters Hong Ji-seok, a founder seeking capital for a social startup focused on youth preparing for self-reliance. Recognizing that the venture does not meet the strict investment criteria of SH Venture Capital, Ji-pyeong personally invest as an angel investor. By providing both funding and mentorship, he mirrors the support Won-deok once provided him, completing his character arc.
Development
Creation The character Han Ji-pyeong was conceived by screenwriter Park Hye-ryun for a miniseries first announced in late 2019 under the working title Sandbox. Director Oh Chung-hwan stated that the series' concept, which explores the idea of "Korea's Silicon Valley," underwent a two-year development period before its October 2020 premiere. This fictional startup accelerator was modeled after SparkLabs, a global startup accelerator founded in South Korea in 2012. Lee Hee-yoon, a director at SparkLabs, served as the primary advisor for the drama. Former Major League Baseball player Chan Ho Park, a venture partner at the actual firm, also made a cameo appearance in the series.
The production marked a milestone for its production house History D&C; CEO Hwang Ki-yong confirmed it as the studio's inaugural release following his departure from iHQ. By February 2020, the series was officially added to the 2020 tvN drama lineup under its finalized title, Start-Up; the change from working title Sandbox was implemented to prevent brand confusion with existing South Korean companies.
While early casting reports provided brief descriptions of the roles, detailed character profiles remained undisclosed until their publication on the official tvN website. In August 2020, reports indicated that the production adopted a naming convention based on railway and subway stations to distinguish the protagonists from real-world corporate figures. Han Ji-pyeong's given name was derived from Ji-pyeong Station.
Casting
Reports about the casting of the drama, initially titled Sandbox, began in November 2019, when Suzy and Nam Joo-hyuk were named as potential leads. Kim Seon-ho was the first cast member to be confirmed, in January 2020. He accepted the role Han Ji-pyeong after reading the first five episodes of the script. He said his reason to join to the project mainly because he wanted to work with writer Park Hye-ryun and director Oh Chung-hwan. He was already a fan of Park's earlier works, I Can Hear Your Voice and Pinocchio, and of Oh's, The Doctors and Hotel del Luna.
Kim was drawn to the script's depiction of youth development and challenges, particularly emphasizing Ji-pyeong's narrative as a key factor in his interest. In other interviews, he also said, "When I read the script, I was struck by its beauty. It's a story with a truly fairytale-like charm, yet at the same time, one that feels like it could actually happen. I suddenly felt like I could be a part of this story, so I was the first to say I wanted to be a part of it."
During the Start-Up press conference on October 12, 2020, director Oh stated that he cast Kim after consulting the actor's theater colleagues, "After listening to their stories, I thought, 'Wow, this kind of person could definitely play the role of Han Ji-pyeong,' and cast him. On set, Kim Seon-ho actually gave us more than 200% of what we expected." Oh added, "Kim Seon-ho is an actor I've personally liked since Chief Kim. He's clean, but he also has complex and sharp sides, but in reality, his personality is gentle. On set, he's the oldest, but he's the cutest. The character Han Ji-pyeong has a sharp edge, and in the drama, he's called . I thought he was an actor with that kind of side."