2009–2011: Beginnings and Three Musketeers

In 2009, Son debut as a member in a trio band called the Three Musketeers under the record label of Open World Entertainment. During the promotion period, Son used the stage name of "Hwarang". In early March 2010, the band made a comeback with a change of concept as a nursery rhyme dance group and the title song of "Eat Eat" (Hangul: "먹어 먹어"). The title track became an instant hit and is widely used in reality shows as background music whenever there are scenes involving the performers eating on-air, notably in Up To The King.^[9] Recently it has become the representative background music of Delicious Guys.^[10]

2011–2012: X-5 and acting debut

With the Open World Entertainment's decision to merge and rebrand the trio band, Son debuted as the leader of a K-pop idol group X-5, under the stage name as "Ghun" on 19 April 2011.^[11][12] Following their successful debut, X-5 gained significant attention and was popularly known as "Tall Idols". At the time, they also received a lot of support and publicity as the "sibling-group" of The Boss, a boy band from the same agency.

On 22 April 2011, the single Xenos was released and the title song "Shohajima" featured. During the premier stage, X-5 left a strong impression with the audience as they performed and danced while wearing sunglasses.^[13][14] Six months later, on 9 December 2011, they released a mini-album Dangerous, featuring the title track of the same name.^[15]

In May 2012, Son made his acting debut when X-5 is cast in the critically acclaimed television series Miss Ripley (2011).^[16][17] As a 2011 commercial success, it attracted publicity and attention to the group.^[18][19][20] In the following month, Son was again cast in another television series Spy Myung-wol (2011).^[21] Produced and aired by Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), one of the three leading television broadcasters in South Korea, the series achieved a viewership rating of more than 10 in its premier run.^[22]

On 13 April 2012, a little under a year after the official debut, X-5 was forced to cancel all planned public appearances with future activities put on hold after a scandal surrounding the CEO of Open World Entertainment unfolded.^{[23][24][25][26][27]} Following the arrest of the CEO in December 2012, X-5 officially disbanded and Son ended his contract with Open World Entertainment, leaving the agency shortly thereafter.^[28][29]

2013–2014: Military enlistment and hiatus

On 4 December 2012, to not cause any disruptions, Son quietly enlisted into the Republic of Korea Armed Forces to serve his mandatory military service.^[30] During the conscription, Son served as a sergeant in the Air Force Flight 722 of Republic of Korea Air Force. He was discharged from service in late 2014.

2015–2018: Comeback and silver screen debut

Following his discharge from the military, Son focused his career direction on acting and has since taken on various roles on silver screen and television projects. Starting in 2015, Son received multiple high-level endorsements from some, if not the largest Fortune 500 global brands like Apple,^[31] Samsung,^[32] LG,^[31] Kia,^[33] and Nivea,^[34] for the roles he plays during the product launches and advertisements.^[35] On top of that, Son also played a leading role in a South Korean government campaign X-project, managed and run by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.^[36]

In 2016, Son had his comeback on television series since his enlistment into the military. He was cast in Blow Breeze (2016), a romance comedy South Korean drama about a North Korean girl who is interested in dancing and who defects to South Korea where she meets a lawyer who will be her lover for life.^[37][38] The series gathered an average nationwide viewership rating 15 for its runs of 50 episodes on MBC between August 27, 2016 to February 26, 2017.^[39]

Later in 2016, Son played a leading role in a short film Butterfly Effect (2016) as he transitioned from television series to the silver screen.^[40][41]

In 2017, Son has his first silver screen debut when he is offered a supporting role in Excavator (2017), a war film that follows a paratrooper through series of events during the May 18, 1980 Gwangju Uprising also known as the "May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement".^[42][43][44] In the same year, Son received a leading role offer in an office-romance web series titled Love Intern Choi Woo Sung (2017), where he played an office intern who finally realises the cold-hard reality of modern society.^[45][46] Son took up a role in another 2017 web series No Bad Days (2017), which told the story of a woman in her twenties who is trying to find a balance between work, love, and relationships.

2018 marked a smooth sailing year for Son as he continued to rise in the acting industry with Live (2018) taking precedence. Directed by Kim Kyu-tae and starring the hallyu star Lee Kwang-soo, Live (2018) gathered much needed attention thanks to its release on both Netflix and cable television.^[47] Son's role as a patrol police officer in the series put him under spotlight when viewers are fond of his police-uniformed appearance.^[48] A few months later, Son appeared in Just Dance (2018), a life and sport genre television series based on documentary of the same name. It tells a story of a group of student at Geoje Girl's Vocational High School with different dreams, trying all out to be better dancers despite their struggles in life.^[49][50] About the same period, Son also resumes his original role in No Bad Days 2 (2018) as sequel to the 2017 web series No Bad Days, where he was previously cast in.^[51][52]

2019–2020: Rising popularity and mainstream success

Starting from 2019, Son sees an elevation in his career in terms of public attention and role offerings resulting from his higher level of participation in mainstream television series produced and aired by leading South Korean broadcaster, notably the MBC, SBS and TvN. This is backed by the fact that television series made under the branding of leading broadcasters are often able to top the chart and dominate the Nationwide viewership ranking for their ability to gather significant publicity and interests from Hallyu audiences around the world.^{[53][54][55][56]} Marking the start is Nokdu Flower, a SBS's 2019 historical television series that focuses on the true events of Donghak Peasant Revolution and the Battle of Ugeumchi which took place in 1894. In the series, Son portrays the role of a righteous, sympathetic Commander of Joseon Imperial guard who feels deeply for the uprising peasants and is willing to assist them in achieving their good cause despite the opposite stance he is in.^[57][58] During its premier run, Nokdu Flower achieved a steady rating of 13.2 in Seoul metropolitan area alone and 11.5 nationwide.^[59]

The same year, Son was cast in TvN's Drama Stage Season 3 (2019) in the chapter of "Woman with a Bleeding Ear", playing the role of the boyfriend to a woman named Kim Soo Hee.^[60][61] Shortly thereafter, Son starred in a YouTube exclusive Web-series, About Youth (2019) which tells an inspiring story of four youths trying to achieve dreams in their own ways while fighting social and cultural stigmas.^[62][63] With Son's silver screen casting, he took up a supporting role in Crazy Romance (2019), the first commercial film directed by Kim Han Gyeol, which also marks 16 years since Kim Rae-won and Gong Hyo-jin last collaborated in the classic Korean drama Snowman.^[64]

In 2020, Son starred in youth action film Justice High (2020), directed by Chae Yeo-jun.

2021–present: Breakthrough and continued success

In 2021, Son signed an exclusive contract with King Kong by Starship, a subsidiary of Starship Entertainment, which is often seen as a major player and a driving force behind the K-pop industry.^[65][66][67]

Military enlistment

On 4 December 2012, Son enlisted into the Republic of Korea Armed Forces to serve his mandatory military service.^[30] During the conscription, Son served as a sergeant in the Air Force Flight 722 of Republic of Korea Air Force.^[68] He was discharged from service on 4 December 2014.

Film

Television series

Web series

Music video

Musical

Theater

Soundtrack appearances