Song Kang-ho made his screen debut in the 1996 Korean drama film ‘The Day a Pig Fell into the Well’ directed by Hong Sang-soo. In 1997, he played the role of ‘Jo-pil’ in the South Korean gangster comedy film ‘No. 3’ directed by Song Neung-han. Kang-ho became a recipient of the ‘Grand Bell Award’ and the ‘Blue Dragon Film Award’ for his performance in the film. He next appeared in films like ‘The Quiet Family’ (1998), ‘Shiri’ (1999), and ‘The Foul King’ (2000). Kang-ho portrayed ‘Sgt. Oh Kyeong-pil’ in the 2000 South Korean mystery thriller film ‘Joint Security Area’ directed by Park Chan-wook. The film was a massive commercial success and became one of the highest-grossing Korean films of all time. Kang-ho also won several awards including the ‘Grand Bell Award’ and ‘Busan Film Critics Award,’ for his portrayal of ‘Sgt. Oh Kyeong-pil’ in the film. He next starred in films like ‘Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance’ (2002), ‘YMCA Baseball Team’ (2002), ‘Memories of Murder’ (2003), ‘The President's Barber’ (2004), ‘Antarctic Journal’ (2005), ‘Sympathy for Lady Vengeance’ (2005), and ‘Madagascar’ (2005). In 2006, he starred as ‘Park Gang-du’ in the South Korean monster film ‘The Host’ directed by Bong Joon-ho. The film grossed over US$89.4 million on a budget of US$11 million and became one of the highest-grossing South Korean films of all time.
Kang-ho continued to star in films like ‘The Show Must Go On’ (2007), ‘Secret Sunshine’ (2007), ‘The Good, the Bad, the Weird’ (2008), ‘Thirst’ (2009), ‘Secret Reunion’ (2010), ‘Hindsight’ (2011), and ‘Howling’ (2012). The year 2013 saw the release of the Bong Joon-ho-directed post-apocalyptic science fiction action film ‘Snowpiercer’ where Kang-ho portrayed ‘Namgoong Minsoo.’ The film opened to wide critical acclaim and sits on a 94% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. That same year, he also appeared in the South Korean courtroom drama film ‘The Attorney’ directed by Yang Woo-suk. The film grossed over US$74.1 million at the box office. He next starred in films like ‘The Throne’ (2015), ‘The Age of Shadows’ (2016), ‘A Taxi Driver’ (2017), ‘The Drug King’ (2018), ‘Parasite’ (2019), ‘The King's Letters’ (2019), and ‘Emergency Declaration’ (2022). He was last seen in the 2022 Hirokazu Kore-eda-directed South Korean drama film ‘Broker’ where he played the role of Sang-hyeon.