One of Korea’s brightest young stars makes a long-awaited comeback to the screen after stepping away to complete his mandatory military service.Model-turned-actor Nam Joo-hyuk, now well over a decade into his screen career, headlines the Netflix show The East Palace, which begins streaming this week. He features alongside Roh Yoon-seo in this glossy, supernaturally tinged period drama, his first screen credit since leading the punchy 2023 action thriller Vigilante on Disney+.A native of the port city of Busan on South Korea’s southern coast, Nam was born in 1994 to a family of modest means.After his family moved to Seoul when he was a teenager, he entered the Top Model Contest organised by talent management company KPlus. Upon winning, he signed with the company and started to walk fashion runways and appear in music videos.Nam Joo-hyuk in a still from The East Palace. Photo: Garage Lab/NetflixNam Joo-hyuk in a still from Vigilante (2023). Photo: Disney+He quickly transitioned to acting, booking his first supporting role in the K-drama The Idle Mermaid (2014) at age 20. His first big part came the following year in Who Are You: School 2015, part of the long-running School anthology series, which has been responsible for giving many future stars their start on screen.