Yuk Jun-seo is turning heads as fans learn more about the new contestant from Netflix's Single's Inferno.
Based in South Korea, Single's Inferno is a reality dating show with survival themes. Contestants are left on an island from which they must escape. Ideally, they are paired off as couples when they make their exits.
Following in the footsteps of past contestants like Kim Jin-young, Season 4 puts 28-year-old Yuk Jun-seo into the reality TV spotlight as he takes on the competition.
Who Is Yuk Jun-seo from Single's Inferno - Biography Details
Yuk Jun-seo Was a Soldier in the UDT
Before entering reality TV, Yuk was a member of the Korean Navy's Underwater Demolition Team (UDT). This elite team of SEALs from the Korean Navy includes soldiers comparable to Navy SEALs from the United States of America.
Speaking with GQ Korea (roughly translated from Korean), Yuk commented on his journey joining the organization.
Initially wanting to be an artist, he looked toward the military when his parents told him he "couldn't make a living as an artist." He wanted to take on something challenging, but while he thought he would retire from the military and go back to drawing when he was little, his plans changed upon joining the UDT:
"It wasn't like that at all. I liked sports, and I thought that being a soldier was a stable job. My parents knew right away, 'He likes drawing.' Since he was young, he spent all day with just one Monami ballpoint pen. That's why they always told me that I couldn't make a living as an artist. I guess that's why I thought, 'Then I should become a soldier, a stable job. But if I'm going to do it, I'd better go to the military, which is the hardest.' I vaguely thought this when I was young. My original goal was to retire from the military, but the atmosphere was so different, so I thought, 'What did I like?' and 'It seems right to live doing what I like.' Then I naturally found myself looking back at drawing."
When asked how difficult the military was, he explained it as being "just a place where people live:"
"It's not that it's hard, it's just a place where people live."
Yuk Jun-seo Is an Artist
Yuk is still an artist, which he continued to do after his time in the military. He regularly posts his artwork on his Instagram page, drawing intricate pictures of dragons and other mythical scenery on wood and different canvases.
"I liked drawing...from a very young age," Yuk noted to Arena Korea, explaining how he would "[fill] the back of a calendar with a ballpoint pen" daily as a kid:
"I liked drawing. From a very young age. Before I entered school, filling the back of a calendar with a ballpoint pen was a daily routine, and even during my school days, I liked drawing, so my job was to draw my friends' faces. I also liked drawing cartoons. I always participated in art activities or competitions at school."
Further discussing his passion with GQ Korea, Yuk sees painting as a medium that allows him to "confirm [his] love for [his] family" and take a deep look at himself:
"That's right. Painting is like a medium. I feel a lot of things when I create. I confirm my love for my family, I look back on who I am, and I feel a lot of things in many ways. Essentially, it is an act that starts from what I want to do, dream about, and hope for more than anything else, so I think it all connects in the end."
Yuk Jun-Seo Is Best Known for The Iron Squad & Sweet Home
Yuk Jun-seo has some experience in the reality TV world thanks to a guest appearance on The Iron Squad (also known as Steel Troops). The show features former male reservists from South Korea's special forces units who go head to head in physical competitions for the title of the best unit in the country.
Yuk served as a guest judge/panelist for four episodes of Season 2 in 2022.
Speaking with Arena Korea, Yuk addressed the "courage" he felt appearing on the show, noting how team members explain that "the viewers' interest is a reward for the challenge:"
"['Steel Troop'] is meaningful because I appeared on it with courage. The team members say that the viewers' interest is a reward for the challenge. New challenges are always meaningful, and I think that if you have confidence, there’s nothing you can’t do if you work hard.
He also played a small role in the hit Korean show Sweet Home.
Yuk Jun-seo Collaborated With PUBG
One of Yuk's other major credits is a collaboration with a game called PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUGB), for which he starred in a short film project based on the game.
Before its release, he spoke with Cine 21 and admitted that he was not much of a gamer.
His interest came from his experience in the armed forces, where he had friends passionate about gaming. Some of them even "joked about going to combat training."
Through this, he was also asked to appear in a second short film following his work in Ground Zero alongside Ma Dong-seok (known to Marvel fans for his role as Gilgamesh in Eternals):
"I don't play games myself, but I've seen a lot of people play them. I was interested because I was a former soldier, and I have a lot of friends around me who play games. They even joked about going to combat training. I got an offer through Instagram DM. They asked me if I wanted to appear in another short film following the short film 'Ground Zero' starring Ma Dong-seok, and I thought it would be a fun experience. I was hesitant because I didn't have any acting experience, but I gained courage after their active persuasion."
How To Follow Yuk Jun-seo Online
Those looking to follow Yuk Jun-seo on social media can do so on Instagram and YouTube.
Single's Inferno is streaming on Netflix.
