Kim Jin-young (Korean: 김진영; born June 9, 1995), also known as Dex (Korean: 덱스), is a South Korean actor and YouTuber. He has appeared on Netflix's dating show Single's Inferno Season 2, Netflix's zombie apocalypse survival show Zombieverse, and MBC's game survival show Bloody Game.[2][3]
During his active duty, He was assigned in the Special Mission Battalion of the Naval Special Warfare Flotilla, a counter-terrorism unit. In 2018, He was also assigned to the 13th Akh Unit, a dispatched unit of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces to the United Arab Emirates.[5]
After being discharged from the military in 2020, he appeared in Fake Men Season 2, a military web entertainment.[6] In the same year, he appeared in MBC's game survival show, Bloody Game.[3]
2022–2023: Rising popularity
In 2022, Kim Jin-young rose to fame when he participated in the Netflix dating show, Single's Inferno Season 2. He was known as the "Catfish Man" (Korean: 메기남), who was brought in later to make the existing cast members stay together first and make the contestants nervous.[7]
In 2023, he returned as a participant in the 2nd season of Bloody Game from which he won the Rookie Male Entertainer Award at the 2nd Blue Dragon Series Awards.[8] He joined as a regular member on the 2nd and 3rd seasons of the travel variety show Adventure by Accident with Kian84, Pani Bottle, and Lee Si-eon. The show won several awards at the 2023 MBC Broadcasting Entertainment Awards, including his Rookie Award and Best Couple Award.[9]
Dex appeared in several variety shows in 2024, such as MBC's University Sports Festival: Boys' Athletes' Village, where he served as a coach to college sports athletes;[13]Disney+'s The Zone: Survival Mission Season 3 with Yoo Jae Suk, SNSD's Kwon Yu-ri, and Kim Dong Hyun;[14] and JTBC's My Name is Gabriel, where he experienced the life of Rati, a wine jar maker, for 72 hours.[15]
He also showed sibling-like chemistry[16] on tvN's Fresh of the Sea with Yeom Jung Ah, Park Jun Myun and Ahn Eun Jin. The show became a trending topic every week of its broadcast and Dex was dubbed as the "Nation's Younger Brother".[17]
Dex debuted as an actor in Tarot: The Seven Chapter Story, a horror-thriller drama series.[18] The 1st episode of the film, 'Santa's visit', starring Cho Yeo-jeong is the South Korean entry invited to participate at the 2024 Cannes International Series Festival's short form category competition.[19] He used his real name, Kim Jin-young, as an actor, instead of his stage name, Dex, wanting to separate entertainment and acting.[20]
He appeared on the 2nd season of Netflix's Zombieverse, which premiered on November 19, 2024.[21]
^ abBaek Seung-hoon (November 15, 2021). '피의 게임' 덱스, 두뇌·심리·체력 끝판왕 등극…하드 캐리 예고 ['Bloody Game' Dex, the king of brains, psychology, and physical strength... Hard carry preview]. MBC News (in Korean). iMBC.
^Baek Seung-hoon (June 8, 2023). '피의 게임2' 덱스 "내 목표는 오직 1등"…우승 경쟁 돌입 ['Bloody Game 2' Dex "My only goal is to be number 1"... Entering the competition for the championship]. MBC News (in Korean). iMBC.
^Jeong Han-byeol (November 2, 2023). "덱스·이영지·재재의 웹예능 활용법" [How to Use Web Entertainment by Dex, Lee Young-ji, and Jae-jae]. Hankook Ilbo (in Korean).
^Baek, Seung-hoon (November 24, 2023). 전현무·이세영·덱스, 2023 MBC방송연예대상 MC 확정 [Jeon Hyun-moo, Lee Se-young, and Dex confirmed as MCs for the 2023 MBC Entertainment Awards]. iMBC (in Korean) – via Naver.
^뉴스 : 네이버 엔터. m.entertain.naver.com. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
^Lee, Mi-ji (May 13, 2024). 조여정X덱스X고규필 '타로', 시리즈 공개 전 극장서 먼저 만난다..6월 개봉확정(공식) [Cho Yeo-jeong X Dex X Ko Kyu-pil's 'Tarot' will be seen in theaters first before the series is released...Confirmed to be released in June (Official)] (in Korean). Herald Pop. Archived from the original on July 12, 2024. Retrieved July 12, 2024 – via Naver.
^Ha Soo-jung (January 12, 2024). [단독] 덱스, 새해 배우로 전향하나..새 드라마 '타로' 남주 확정 [[Exclusive] Dex, turning into an actor in the new year.. Confirmed as the male lead in the new drama 'Tarot']. Osen (in Korean).
^Yeo Kyung-mi and Noh Yu-seon (April 23, 2024). "2024 파워 셀러브리티 40, K-컬처 알리는 대한민국 대표 셀럽" [2024 Power Celebrity 40, Representative Korean Celebrities Who Promote K-Culture]. Forbes Korea (in Korean).