Born in Seoul, South Korea as Park Jin-tae, he borrowed his manager's name "Joo Jin-mo" for his stage name when he began his acting career.

[4] After taking the lead in Kim Ki-duk's mildly experimental Real Fiction (which was shot in 3.5 hours without any retakes), Joo took a major role in the much-hyped Musa, set in 14th-century China and starring Zhang Ziyi from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

[4] After some films he had been cast in were cancelled due to lack of financing, Joo did the 2003 boxing drama Punch with Shin Min-ah, then returned to the big screen in 2004, in the comedy Liar based on the play Run for Your Wife by Ray Cooney.

[4] From 2004 to early 2005, Joo filmed the epic wuxia historical drama Bichunmoo ("Dance in the Sky"), but due to copyright issues with Korean broadcasters, it aired first in China and Taiwan in 2006.

[9] In 2006 he starred in Puzzle about a bank robbery gone wrong, and opposite Kim Ah-joong in the hugely popular romantic comedy 200 Pounds Beauty.

[17] The year after, Joo and Hallyu star Song Seung-heon appeared in A Better Tomorrow, the 2010 Korean remake of John Woo's classic Hong Kong noir film.

"[20][21] Joo first sang "Like Rain, Like Music" by late singer Kim Hyun-sik during his first fan meeting in Japan at the Nakano Sun Plaza in Tokyo.

[24] In 2012's Gabi (the antiquated local term for "coffee"), Joo played a late 19th-century international con man who becomes embroiled in the espionage and political conspiracy surrounding King Gojong.

[citation needed] He then returned to the Goryeo era to play a fictional character based on King Chunghye in Empress Ki, a historical drama with Ha Ji-won in the title role.