Lee Jun-Young

Lee Jun-young (; born January 22, 1997), also known as Jun, is a South Korean singer, rapper and actor who debuted as a member of the boy band U-KISS in 2014. He joined the survival program ''The Unit'' (2017–18) and won to become a member of the project group UNB. As an actor, he has achieved wider recognition with his roles in the Netflix series '' Melo Movie'' (2025), ''When Life Gives You Tangerines'' (2025), and ''Weak Hero Class 2'' (2025).

Career

2014–2016: Career beginnings with U-KISS

On May 15, 2014, NH Media announced, via U-KISS's official Korean website, new member Jun to the public. On June 2, 2014, Jun made his debut with U-KISS and the group released its ninth mini album ''Mono Scandal'' along with the 19+ rated music video of the album's title track "Quit Playing."

2017–2021: UNB and acting breakthrough

In 2017, he debuted as an actor in the television series '' Avengers Social Club''. On October 28, 2017, Lee joined survival program ''The Unit''. He made it to the final Top 9 and was voted number one. He promoted with UNB, which consisted of finalists from the show, from April 7, 2018, to January 27, 2019.

From April to May, Lee appeared as "Compass" on MBC's TV program ''King of Mask Singer''. In the first round, he performed a duet with Lee Sang-hoon of "It Was Like That Then". For the second round, he performed solo cover version of "Eraser". In May 2018, he made his second acting appearance as Han Min-soo in the MBC television series '' Goodbye to Goodbye'' (2018) and received a new actor award at the 2018 MBC Drama Awards. On April 10, 2019, Lee released his first Japanese solo single "Phenomenal World," which explored the futurepop genre. He performed his first solo showcase in Tokyo on February 4. Prior to the release, he also held a series of concerts on April 6 in Osaka and April 8 in Tokyo. Tower Records Japan ranked "Phenomenal World" as the #7 best-selling Japanese single by a Korean artist for the first half of 2019. He starred in the OCN television series '' Class of Lies'', which aired from July 17 to September 5. On November 6, he released both a Korean and Japanese version of his solo single "My Way," for which he wrote the lyrics. The single featured rapper Reddy and was produced by Sway D and was accompanied by two music videos. After a digital download was released on October 30, the Japanese version ranked #2 on the dwango.jp K-POP Life weekly singles chart. On November 28, he released his first Korean solo single "TELL" composed by himself as a pre-release for upcoming album ''Gallery''. On December 5, he made his solo debut in Korea with the title track "Curious About U" and the single album ''Gallery''.

On January 22, 2020, Lee released his first Japanese album ''22'' which featured the title track "Come Alive". In 2020, he acted in the musical ''Swag Age: Shout out, Chosun!'' and received a new actor award at the fifth Korea Musical Awards. In April 2020, he played Kang Woo-won in the SBS television series '' Good Casting'' (2020), which was entirely pre-produced. In June 2020, he made a special appearance in the SBS drama '' Backstreet Rookie'' as a student who stole a college student's overcoat and bought cigarettes. In October 2020, he acted in the MBC Every 1 drama '' Please Don't Date Him''. He participated in the soundtrack for the drama with the single "To you who will be tired". On October 7, he released a new Korean single "Amen", which explored his interest in rap and hip hop.

In May 2021, he starred in the KBS2 drama ''Imitation'' (2021) as Kwon Ryok, a talented idol-actor and center of a fictional idol group SHAX. As a SHAX member, he participated in the song "MALO", "AMEN", and "Your Sign (SHAX ver)". In the first two mentioned songs, he mainly took over the rap part. As an individual Kwon Ryok, he participated in the song "Your Sign" sung by all original cast and remake of "My Old Story" sung in duet with Jiyeon T-ARA. All the songs are available on various music streaming services.

After departing NH Media in August, he announced in November that he co-founded a new company J-flex, which will serve as his current agency for his acting projects. In August 2021, he appeared in the third episode of Netflix series ''D.P.'' as deserter Jung Hyun-Min. In order to digest the intense action scenes, he learned boxing with actor Jung Hae-in who plays Ahn Joon-ho, for a few months at an action school before filming. As the action scenes were shot without a stunt double, he receives praise for his swift and accurate movements. In November 2021, he starred in SBS drama '' Let Me Be Your Knight'' as Yoon Tae-in, a songwriter and vocalist of fictional band LUNA. As a member of LUNA, he sang several songs: "Beautiful Breakup", "Midnight Fantasy", "Let Me Be Your Knight", "Love Paranoia", and "Rock & Roll Tonight". He also sang a song titled "Love One Day" by himself.

2022–present: Rising popularity

In February 2022, he starred in Netflix movie ''Love and Leashes, an'' adaptation of webtoon titled "Moral Sense", on the topic of BDSM. He starred alongside Seohyun (Jung Ji-woo) as Jung Ji-hoo, a new transferred assistant manager from business team. Outwardly, he is a nice and popular superior, but inwardly he hides secret desires. In October 2022, he starred in MBC drama ''May I Help You'', alongside Hyeri. The drama was filmed from June 1, 2022 to December 9, 2022 and aired every Wednesday-Thursday at 21.50 KST. He plays the role Kim Tae-hee, who calls himself 100-won butler and can do any kind of errand as long as you pay him. He also sang an OST titled "A Fine Day" for this drama.

In 2023, he starred in movie ''Brave Citizen'', based on the webtoon of the same name. He starred alongside Shin Hye-sun (So Si-min) as Han Su-gang, a high-school bully that's described as a vicious villain that has never seen before. The filming started from December 30, 2021 – April 5, 2022 and the movie became available on theater starting from October 25, 2023. In August 2023, he appeared as the villain in the fourth episode of Netflix series '' Mask Girl''. His acting as villain in Brave Citizen and '' Mask Girl'' earned him Best Acting Performance Award from 2023 Asia Artist Award.

In January 2024, he starred in Netflix movie ''Badland Hunters'', alongside Ma Dong-seok, Lee Hee-joon, and Roh Jeong-eui. In February 2024, he starred in Disney+ series '' The Impossible Heir'' alongside Lee Jae-wook. In May 2024, he starred in TVING series ''Dreaming of a Freaking Fairytale'' alongside Pyo Ye-jin.

In February 2025, he appeared as cameo on tvN and TVING historical drama '' The Queen Who Crowns''. He was praised for his wonderful portrayal of King Sejong in his first historical drama appearance. In the same month, he starred in the Netflix series '' Melo Movie'' as Hong Si-jun, an aspiring musician who met again with his ex-girlfriend of 7 years Son Ju-a. He also sung an OST for the series titled "Under Sunset" entirely in English, showing off his skills as singer.

In March 2025, he starred as a supporting role in another Netflix series ''When Life Gives You Tangerines'' starring IU and Park Bo-gum. He was praised for his successive role in romance series, earning him the title "Romance Master". Coupled with the villain roles he has done in recent years, he once again proved the width of his acting spectrum that freely moves between genres, roles, good and evil, flexibly digesting complex emotions, earning favorable reviews as 'Lee Jun-young rediscovery'.

Because of his frequency of starring in OTT series, he is sometimes called 'OTT Prince', 'OTT Son', or 'OTT Civil Servant'. He also appeared in another Netflix series ''Weak Hero Class 2'' as Geum Seong-je, which aired in Netflix on April 25. He is now appearing in KBS2 drama '' Pump Up The Healthy Love'' airing every Wednesday-Thursday at 9:50 KST from April 30. He will star alongside Jung Eunji as Do Hyeon-jeong, a gym manager who was born smaller than the size of 1.5 kg dumbbells but managed to turn his life around through exercise.

Discography

Extended plays

Single albums

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Collaborations

Soundtrack appearances

Filmography

Film

Television series

Television shows

Web shows

Music video appearances

Musical

Awards and nominations

Listicles

Notes

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Jun-young
1997 births
Living people
People from Uijeongbu
Male actors from Gyeonggi Province
Singers from Gyeonggi Province
South Korean male television actors
South Korean male web series actors
South Korean male film actors
MBK Entertainment artists
South Korean male idols
21st-century South Korean male actors
21st-century South Korean male singers
The Unit: Idol Rebooting Project contestants