Handsome Actor Still Haunted By One Nickname After 12 Years—Now He Wants Answers

Which one of you is responsible?

Actor Shin Sung Rok is still dealing with a nickname he never asked for, more than a decade after it first appeared.

Actor Shin Sung Rok | @shin_sung_rok/Instagram

During a recent appearance on the SBS show Uh, But Like Seriously, the veteran actor opened up about the unexpected label that has followed him throughout his career.

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The story dates back to his breakout role as a chilling sociopathic villain in the hit K-Drama, My Love from the Star. At the height of the show’s popularity, a single online comment compared his appearance to a “KakaoTalk dog,” in reference to a cartoon-style dog character emoticon used in the messaging app.

What might have been a one-off joke quickly spiraled into something much bigger. According to Shin Sung Rok, the nickname stuck almost instantly, with edited images and screenshots of his scenes repeatedly paired with the comparison. Over time, it became something fans—and even casual viewers—kept bringing up.

More than 12 years later, the actor revealed that the nickname still resurfaces to this day. “I still get called that,” he said with a laugh.

I really want to find the person who started it. I just want to talk.

— Shin Sung Rok

Though clearly said in jest, his comment struck a chord with viewers, highlighting how a single viral moment can follow a celebrity for years, long after the original joke was made.