Kang Mi-na lines up 2027 KBS lead role after award-winning acting run
Singer-actress Kang Mi-na, 26, will lead KBS 2TV's 'Nameless Lantern' in 2027, building on two newcomer awards already in her collection.
Two newcomer trophies, one more lead on the way
Kang Mi-na posted a 20-photo summer Instagram dump on October 22 — beach shots, her pet dog, the usual off-season content. Her schedule heading into 2027 is anything but quiet. The 26-year-old singer and actress is confirmed as the lead in KBS 2TV drama Nameless Lantern (무명의 등불), set to air in 2027.
The booking extends what has become a steady upward arc in her acting career. She picked up the KBS Acting Awards Female Newcomer Award for her lead role as Han Ae-jin in KBS 2TV's When the Flowers Bloom, I Think of the Moon (꽃 피면 달 생각하고). Then came the 2024 Aipan Star Awards Female Newcomer Award for playing Jo Hae-dal in JTBC's Welcome to Samdalri. Two separate ceremonies, two separate wins.
From IOI to a Netflix double-header
Kang Mi-na debuted in 2016 with IOI's first mini-album Chrysalis. That same year she joined gugudan on their debut mini Act.1 The Little Mermaid, handling lead dancer, rapper, and vocalist duties. Her acting start came in 2017 with MBC drama 20th Century Boy and Girl.
Since then her drama and film credits have stacked up. Hotel del Luna (tvN) had her as Kim Yu-na. She played hacker Nam Hye-jun in Pretty Boy Dorm / Minamdang (KBS 2TV). The 2023 film Loan Shark Boy cast her as Shin Da-young. She led Ko In-jeong in the 2025 Netflix film The History of Confession. Then came Im Na-ri in the 2026 Netflix series Girigo. And Yoon No-ah in tvN's 2026 drama Working Tomorrow!
She also hosted MBC's Show! Music Core from 2018 to 2020, earning the 2018 MBC Broadcasting Entertainment Awards Female Newcomer Award in the Music & Talk category. Guest appearances followed on SBS's Running Man and Kim Byung-man's Law of the Jungle in Lost Jungle.
(Three leads in two years across Netflix and terrestrial TV before turning 27 is a pace most actors don't hit in a decade.)
Nameless Lantern on KBS 2TV in 2027 is next.
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