Actor who once starred in Korean dramas rescued teen from Han River on jet ski

The man who spotted a middle school student drowning in the Han River and immediately took a jet ski out to rescue him has been identified as a foreign actor who once appeared in Korean dramas.

Closed-circuit television footage captured a man rushing toward the water on a jet ski at around 7:40 a.m. Thursday near Worldcup Bridge in Seoul, SBS reported Sunday.

A witness at the scene said the man "rode off on a jet ski" and appeared to be a foreigner. "When I zoomed in to take a photo, I realized he was an actor I had seen in a drama," the witness said.

The rescuer was Michael Blunk, a US-born actor who previously appeared in Korean drama series including "Assorted Gems" and "Shin Gisaeng Jeon." He has since left the entertainment industry and now works at a bottle manufacturing company.

Blunk said he was walking near his office at the time when he heard screaming and ran to the scene.

"I was walking around the office at around 7:41, 7:42 in the morning when I heard screaming outside," Blunk said. "I went out and saw just a head in the water."

Recognizing the danger, he immediately took the jet ski out to the student and pulled him to safety. "My friend spoke really good English," Blunk said. "The student said, 'I'm so sorry for making you come out like this,' and I told him, 'No, it's fine, don't worry about it.'"

Fire department and Han River police units arrived at the scene after receiving an emergency call and took the student safely from Blunk. "There were no abnormalities in consciousness or breathing," a fire department official said. "Police secured the individual and transferred him to paramedics."