Lee Seo-jin

In this Korean name, the family name is Lee.

Lee Seo-jin (born January 30, 1971) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for the reality shows Three Meals a Day and Grandpa Over Flowers. As an actor, he came to prominence with his leading roles in television series Damo (2003), Phoenix (2004), Lovers (2006), Yi San (2007) and Marriage Contract (2016).

Lee Seo-jin
Lee in May 2023
Born	(1971-01-30) January 30, 1971 (age 54) Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea[1]
Other names	Lee Suh-jin
Alma mater	New York University
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1999–present
Agent	Antenna[2]
Korean name
Hangul	이서진
Revised Romanization	I Seojin
McCune–Reischauer	I Sŏjin
Website	www.seojinlee.com/xe/index.php?mid=main

Career

Lee Seo-jin made his acting debut in 1999 in the television series House Above the Waves. After several supporting roles on TV, he rose to fame in the 2003 hit period drama Damo, followed by the also popular contemporary drama Phoenix in 2004.^[3][4] Lee then landed his first big screen leading role in the 2005 action blockbuster Shadowless Sword.^[5]

Lee played a vampire in the cable series Freeze (2006), a gangster in Lovers (2006),^[4] and a criminal profiler in Soul (2009).^[6][7] However, he became well known for his portrayals of Korean historical characters King Jeongjo of Joseon in Yi San (2007),^[8] and General Gyebaek of Baekje in Gyebaek (2011).^[9][10]

Other activities

Lee comes from a family with strong ties in the financial sector, and believed to be involved in the banking, transportation and tourism industries, among others. He has a Business Management degree from the New York University Stern School of Business. In 2011, Lee joined the company Ask Veritas Assets Management, which specializes in intellectual property and real estate investment. He was appointed as managing director for the firm's second global contents division.^[11][12][13]

A regular volunteer of Habitat for Humanity since 2006, he was appointed its Goodwill Ambassador for Korea in 2008.^[14][15] Together with the Nippon Foundation and South Korean food franchise Genesis, Lee established the "Let's Tree Fund" in 2010 to conduct reforestation activities.^[16] In 2011, Lee joined relief efforts for victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.^[17] Like many celebrities, Lee also publicly protested the forced repatriation of North Korean defectors.^{[citation needed]}

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2000	Ghost Taxi	Gil-nam		[18]
2001	I Love You	Jin-sung		[19]
2005	Shadowless Sword	Dae Jeong-hyun, the last prince of Balhae		[20]
2006	Freeze	Male		[21]
2009	Hon	Shin-ryu		[22]
2015	Love Forecast	Lee Dong-jin		[23]
	The Shameless
2018	Intimate Strangers	Joon-mo		[24]
2019	Trap: Director's Cut	Kang Woo-hyun		[25]

Television series

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1999	House Above the Waves
	Wang Cho (The Boss)
2001	Her House	Lee Joon-hee
	New Nonstop		guest
	Sunday Best "A Good Man, Lee Young-woo"		one act-drama
2002	Since We Met	Kang Min-suk
2002–2003	Shoot for the Stars	Do-hyun
2003	Damo	Commander Hwangbo Yoon
2004	Phoenix	Jang Sae-hoon
2006	Freeze	Baek Joong-won
2006–2007	Lovers	Ha Kang-jae
2007–2008	Lee San, Wind of the Palace	Yi San (King Jeongjo)		[26]
2008	On Air	Himself	cameo, ep 9
2009	Soul	Shin Ryu
2011	Gyebaek	Gyebaek
2014	Wonderful Days	Kang Dong-seok		[27]
2016	Marriage Contract	Han Ji-hoon		[28][29]
2019	Trap	Kang Woo-hyun		[30]
2021	Times	Lee Jin-woo		[31]
2022	Behind Every Star	Matthew / Tae-oh		[32]

Web series

Year	Title	Role	Ref.
2014	The Best Future	Choi Kang-ja
2022	Dr. Park's Clinic	Park Won-jung	[33]
2024	High School Return of a Gangster	Kim Deuk-pal	[34]

Television show

Year	Title	Role	Ref.
2013–2015	Grandpas Over Flowers	Cast member	[35]
2014–2015	Three Meals a Day		[36][37]
2016	Talents for Sale		[38]
	Three Meals a Day: Fishing Village 3
2017–2018	Youn's Kitchen
2017	Three Meals a Day: Sea Ranch
2018	Grandpas Over Flowers Returns		[39]
2019	Little Forest		[40]
2020	Friday Joy Package		[41]
2021	Youn's Stay	Cast member and vice-CEO	[42]
2022	Unexpected Journey	Cast member	[43]
2023–2024	Jinny's Kitchen	Cast member and owner of the restaurant	[44][45]
2023	Jinny's Kitchen: Team Building	Cast member

Music video

Year	Title	Artist	Ref.
1999	Forever	SKY
2000	Lieblich	Boohwal
2001	Goodbye	Jung Jae-wook
2004	Where Are You?	Yim Jae-beom for Ditto 3 compilation album

Stage

Musical

Musical's performance

Year	Title		Role	Theater	Date	Ref.
	English	Korean
2000	Shakespeare's Love Method	세익스피어식 사랑메소드	Hamlet	Hoam Art Hall	May 12–14	[46]
2001				Daehakro Performing Arts Center Grand Theater	November 17–25	[47]

Awards and nominations

Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination

Award ceremony	Year	Category	Nominee / Work	Result	Ref.
APAN Star Awards	2014	Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama	Wonderful Days	Nominated
Baeksang Arts Awards	2008	Best Actor – Television	Yi San	Nominated
KBS Drama Awards	2014	Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama	Wonderful Days	Nominated
		Netizen Award, Actor		Nominated
		Best Couple Award with Kim Hee-sun		Nominated
MBC Drama Awards	2001	Best New Actor	Her House	Won
	2003	Excellence Award, Actor	Damo	Won
		Popularity Award, Actor		Nominated
		Best Couple Award with Ha Ji-won		Won
	2004	Top Excellence Award, Actor	Phoenix	Won
		Popularity Award, Actor		Nominated
		Best Couple Award with Lee Eun-ju		Won
	2007	Top Excellence Award, Actor	Yi San	Won
		Popularity Award, Actor		Nominated
		Best Couple Award with Han Ji-min		Nominated
	2016	Grand Prize (Daesang)	Marriage Contract	Nominated
		Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Special Project Drama		Won
		Best Couple Award with Uee		Nominated
SBS Drama Awards	2006	Netizen Popularity Award, Actor	Lovers	Won
		Top 10 Stars		Won
Style Icon Awards	2013	Style Icon	Lee Seo-jin	Won
tvN10 Awards	2016	Grand Prize (Daesang), Variety Performer	Three Meals a Day: Jeongseon Village, Grandpas Over Flowers	Won
		Variety Icon	Three Meals a Day: Jeongseon Village	Nominated

State honors

Name of country, year given, and name of honor

Country Or Organization	Year	Honor Or Award	Ref.
National Tax Service[note 1]	2019	Presidential Commendation	[49]

Listicles

Name of publisher, year listed, name of listicle, and placement

Publisher	Year	Listicle	Placement	Ref.
Forbes	2015	Korea Power Celebrity 40	25th	[50]

Notes

1. Honors are given at the Taxpayers' Day ceremony.^[48]