So Ji-sub's W100m gold gift has more than doubled in value — and a 25-year-old act of kindness is back in the spotlight

Actor So Ji-sub made headlines after gifting every member of the "Agent Kim Reactivated" production team a piece of pure gold worth about 100 million won ($68,200) in total. The gold, distributed to roughly 300 cast and crew members, is now worth more than twice that amount at current market prices. The story has also brought renewed attention to a warm account from 25 years ago involving a junior coordinator who worked with him at the time.

So recently gave one don — a traditional Korean unit equal to 3.75 grams — of pure gold to each of the approximately 300 actors and crew members who worked on the SBS drama series "Agent Kim Reactivated."

As of Tuesday, the Korea Exchange's domestic gold price stood at 192,600 won per gram, which puts one don at roughly 722,250 won. Multiplied across 300 recipients, the current value of the gifts comes to approximately 216.67 million won.

In other words, the gold So purchased for around 100 million won has more than doubled in value on the back of rising gold prices.

So had not prepared the gifts because of the show's commercial success. Regardless of how it performed, he spent his own money to thank the actors and crew who had worked alongside him for months before the series even aired.

"Agent Kim Reactivated" went on to become a hit, peaking at a viewership rating of 23.1 percent and topping Netflix's non-English TV chart for three consecutive weeks.

As So's gold gift drew wide attention, a story from 25 years ago has also resurfaced online.

On Monday, a post by a person identified only as A, who claimed to have been So's most junior coordinator at the time, spread across various online communities.

A wrote that she had quit her industrial design studies, learned makeup in Apgujeong and then found herself working as a coordinator — with So Ji-sub as her very first assignment as the most junior member of the team.

She recalled So's warmth toward her: "'You did my makeup on Tuesday,' he said, and 'I'll buy you a gift to mark three months together' — he was nothing but kindness and attention, even to the most junior coordinator. I plan to remember those words for the rest of my life. That's how I've been a fan for 25 years ♥."

A also shared another episode from that time.

She recalled that during a drama shoot, So walked straight onto the set saying there was only one shot to film and he probably didn't need his makeup touched up. When people around her urged her to hurry over and fix it, she rushed after him, gently dabbed his nose and said, "I think I'll get in trouble if I don't."

So's response, she said, was to ask her in a playful tone: "Who — who would scold you?"

"The So Ji-sub I met in my twenties was warmth and consideration itself," A added. "How could I not become a fan? He was a dependable oppa — 'So Ganji' all the way."

Meanwhile, this is not the first time So has given gold as a gift.

After wrapping the Netflix series "Gwangjang," released last year, he also gave each cast and crew member one don of pure gold, drawing similar praise at the time.

So later appeared on the YouTube channel "Sibooya" and explained the gesture: "I've always shared something with everyone when a shoot wraps up. I paid for it out of my own pocket, but everyone assumed it was sponsored. Gold has no sponsors — I gave it so that if times get hard, people can sell it and use the money."

With So extending the same generosity on "Agent Kim Reactivated" as he had on "Gwangjang," online reactions have poured in — "So Ji-sub is truly big-hearted," "the dignity of a lead actor," "the crew must be so envious" and "even his thoughtfulness is cool."