South Korean actors Song Kang and Kim Min-gue have finally completed their mandatory military service and were officially discharged this week.

The two K-drama heartthrobs, who enlisted in April 2024 and served as active-duty soldiers, were discharged one day apart - Min-gue on Tuesday (Sept 30) and Song Kang yesterday.

Min-gue, 30, celebrated the end of his service in an Instagram post yesterday with a series of photos, writing: "It's been a year and a half, long if you will or short if you prefer.

"Though there were difficult moments, I was able to complete my military service safely thanks to the fans who loved and waited for me, and to my wonderful seniors, juniors, peers, and officers."

"Furthermore, I extend my deepest respect and gratitude to all the soldiers of the Republic of Korea Army who are guarding our nation in their respective posts even at this very moment."

One of the photos revealed that Min-gue received the Army Soldier Award, which is given to soldiers for their exemplary service. He also had a "special warrior" badge, shown in another photo, on his uniform.

Fans celebrated his return with words of welcome and praised his good looks in the comment section.

One netizen wrote: "I was one of those who received the latter half of the training in Daejeon alongside Kim Min-gue. I really regret not getting his autograph; the instructors blocked me at the time.

"I'll never forget the charisma he displayed leading the soldiers while wearing that orange belt! You've worked incredibly hard all this time!!"

"Welcome back, handsome guy with the most beautiful winks," wrote another.

Min-gue made his debut in the 2013 tvN drama Monster and subsequently captured hearts with his role as Kang Ji-wook in Backstreet Rookie (2020) and Cha Sung-hoon in Business Proposal (2021).

The next day, Song Kang was seen warmly greeting fans through the window of his car in videos posted on social media platforms.

One user wrote: "Song Kang appears radiant as ever, greeting fans at his military discharge today. Welcome back, Kang!"

Song Kang appears radiant as ever, greeting fans at his military discharge today. Welcome back, Kang! ❤️#WelcomeBackSongKang #강이돌아왔송 #송강 #SONGKANG pic.twitter.com/3OTHuDk5wk

— 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝑲𝒂𝒏𝒈 (@songkang_n_s) October 1, 2025

"Thank you for smiling like this. You've worked hard, let's spend countless days together from now on," wrote another netizen on Threads.

The 31-year-old surprised fans a few months ago when he appeared in a YouTube video uploaded on July 9 by South Korean military news outlet Defence Media Agency.

In the video titled That Day in the Military, he spoke about the Korean army's final battle at Namdaemun. Following this, he also appeared in two more videos - one in July and the other in September.

[embed]https://youtu.be/oe_Y553UIYY?si=03y1q7NiJBnpmwAn[/embed]

Song Kang debuted in the 2017 romance TV series The Liar and His Lover and is best known for his roles in the romance-comedy drama My Demon (2023) and apocalyptic-horror Netflix series Sweet Home (2020-2024).

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esther.lam@asiaone.com