Park Hyung-sik Opens Up About Overcoming Bullying and the Friendship That Saved Him

On the April 2 episode of tvN’s popular variety show 'You Quiz on the Block', actor Park Hyung-sik made a heartfelt appearance.

Known today as a global star, Park debuted in 2010 as a member of the K-pop boy group ZE:A and is now celebrating his 16th year in the entertainment industry. Surprisingly, he shared that he never dreamed of becoming a celebrity at first. “It felt like a completely different world to me,” he said, catching everyone off guard.

As the youngest member of ZE:A, Park recalled the hardships of his early idol days. “The environment was really tough. The nine of us had to fit into one Carnival van. When our leader sat in the passenger seat, the rest of us had to squeeze into the back in age order,” he said. “We even shared one bathroom between all nine members.”

Despite those difficult times, Park revealed that he remains close to his ZE:A members—and there’s a touching reason why. Before joining ZE:A, he briefly trained at another entertainment company where he experienced bullying. “That agency cast me after seeing me at a band competition, but there were already trainees there who had come through auditions. I think I seemed like an outsider, and they kept their distance,” he confessed. “I thought that’s just how trainee life worked—lots of competition, cliques, and isolation. So I focused on practicing alone, thinking my skills would have to speak for themselves.”

Things changed after he moved to the company that would launch ZE:A. It was his future members who helped him come out of his shell. “I used to practice ballads alone in a tiny one-pyeong (roughly 3.3 square meter) room without eating. One of the members saw me and said, ‘Why are you doing this by yourself? Let’s eat first.’ That’s how it started. They pulled me out from that dark, musty space—literally and emotionally—and we started eating and joking around together. That’s when I began to open up again,” he said, expressing deep gratitude for their support.

Park also spoke about how he became more motivated after debut. “I told the company, ‘Let me do anything, just give me a chance.’ That’s when they suddenly asked, ‘Want to join the army?’—and that’s how I ended up on 'Real Men',” he laughed. The military reality show made Park a household name thanks to his sweet and earnest persona, earning him the nickname “Baby Soldier” and topping real-time search rankings at the time.

Since then, Park has steadily built his acting career, starring in a variety of hit dramas and becoming a widely recognized actor. When asked what “Buried Hearts” means to him personally, he gave a warm, thoughtful answer. “I just want to live a life full of happiness and love. Lately, I’ve really come to appreciate moments that make my heart feel full,” he shared. “Seeing Kwanghee work so hard, or watching Siwan go to Cannes—it moves me. It makes me think, ‘Park Hyung-sik, can’t you do it too? Let’s go!’ Their success motivates me, and the happier they are, the happier I feel.”

Currently starring as Seo Dong-joo in 'Buried Hearts', Park is riding high on the drama’s success. According to Nielsen Korea, the show’s premiere episode recorded a nationwide rating of 11.7% and 11.9% in the Seoul metropolitan area, making it the No.1 drama across all channels in its time slot and for the entire week.

The drama has been dominating both ratings and buzz. 'Buried Hearts' tells the story of a man who hacks into a slush fund worth 2 trillion won (approximately 1.36 billion USD) and a hidden political figure who, unaware of the hack, kills him and loses the fortune.