Lee Min-ki (born January 16, 1985) is a South Korean actor, singer, and model. Lee's first leading role in television was in the 2005 sports drama ''Taereung National Village''. He has gone on to star in many television series, including ''

Love Truly ''Love Truly'' (; lit. ''I Really, Really Like You'') is a 2006 South Korean television series starring Eugene, Lee Min-ki, and Ryu Jin. It aired on MBC from April 8 to August 6, 2006 on Saturdays and Sundays at 19:55 for 34 episodes. The d ...

'' (2006), '' Dal-ja's Spring'' (2007), '' Because This Is My First Life'' (2017), '' The Beauty Inside'' (2018), '' My Liberation Notes'' (2022) and '' Behind Your Touch'' (2023). Lee has also starred in

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

s, most notably in the box office hits '' Tidal Wave'' (2009), ''

Quick Quick, as an adjective, refers to something moving with high speed. Quick may also refer to: In business * Quick (restaurant), a Belgian fast-food restaurant chain * Quick (sportswear), a Dutch manufacturer of sportswear * Quick (automobile), a ...

'' (2011), '' Spellbound'' (2011) and '' Very Ordinary Couple'' (2013).

Career

Acting

After honing his acting in one-act dramas, Lee Min-ki first gained popularity on television in romantic comedies ''

'' (2006) and '' Dal-ja's Spring'' (2007). He then starred in the quirky low-rated cult series ''Evasive Inquiry Agency'' (2007) and alternated mainstream films with

indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies) is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The ''Indies'' broadly referred to various lands in the East or the Eastern Hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found i ...

such as ''Oishii Man'' (2009). He gained favorable notices for his supporting roles in the thriller '' A Million'' as a hot-tempered Marine-turned-janitor who finds himself involved in a survival reality show, and the disaster film '' Tidal Wave'', in which he plays a lifeguard who makes a heartbreaking sacrifice when a

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

hits the Korean beach town of Haeundae. Lee then solidified his bona fide movie star status with his leading roles in the action film ''

'' and romantic comedy '' Spellbound''. Lee starred alongside Kim Min-hee in the relationship drama '' Very Ordinary Couple'' (2013), a critically-acclaimed a box-office hit. He followed with leading roles in thriller ''

Monster A monster is a type of imaginary or fictional creature found in literature, folklore, mythology, fiction and religion. They are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive, with a strange or grotesque appearance that causes Anxiety, terror ...

'' (2014), action noir '' For the Emperor'' (2014), and drama film '' Shoot Me in the Heart'' (2015), based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Jeong Yu-jeong. In 2017, Lee starred in the romantic-comedy drama '' Because This Is My First Life'' opposite

Jung So-min Kim Yoon-ji (; born March 16, 1989), known professionally as Jung So-min (), is a South Korean actress. She made her acting debut with a supporting role in the Korean drama, television series ''Bad Guy (TV series), Bad Guy'' (2010). Jung is know ...

, which had been his first television leading role in 10 years. This was followed with the fantasy melodrama '' The Beauty Inside'' (2018), based on the 2015 romantic comedy film of the same name. He played a man who suffers from

prosopagnosia Prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness, (" illChoisser had even begun tpopularizea name for the condition: face blindness.") is a cognitive disorder of face perception in which the ability to recognize familiar faces, including one's own f ...

. In 2019, Lee returned to the small screen opposite Lee Yoo-young in the crime detective drama '' The Lies Within'' as detective Jo Tae-sik. On January 13, 2020, it was announced that Lee would star in the occult thriller film '' Three Days'' alongside Park Shin-yang and Lee Re. In 2021, Lee starred alongside Nana in the MBC romantic comedy '' Oh My Ladylord''. After the contract with his former agency expired in September 2021, Lee signed a contract with Yeongsang ENT. The same year, he joined the

JTBC JTBC (shortened from Joongang Tongyang Broadcasting Company; ; stylized in all lowercase) is a South Korean nationwide pay television network. Its primary shareholder is JoongAng Holdings, with a 25% stake. It was launched on December 1, ...

television series '' My Liberation Notes'' which premiered in April 2022. He played the role of Yeom Chang-hee, the second of three siblings with no proper goal in life.

Singing

After performing a stylized version of "

My Way "My Way" is Paul Anka's English-language lyrical adaptation of the French song " Comme d'habitude", released by Frank Sinatra in 1969. The original song was written by Jacques Revaux, Gilles Thibaut, and Claude François, and was first recor ...

" at the 2008 Mnet KM Music Festival, Lee lent his vocals to a track with Korean electronica/pop singer Sheean in a collaboration with Japanese

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

Shibuya-kei is a microgenre of pop music or a general aesthetic that flourished in Japan in the mid-to-late 1990s. The music genre is distinguished by a "cut-and-paste" approach that was inspired by the kitsch, fusion, and artifice from certain music styl ...

artist FreeTEMPO. The song, titled "Power of Love," was released as a digital single, and Lee also appeared in the music video. On August 11, 2009, he unveiled his musical debut ''No Kidding'', a six track EP with a very indie-electro rock sound. The album's title song "Eternal Summer" was the first and only single released. In 2013, he released two singles titled "Those Days I Had with You" and "Everything" in collaboration with Gold Coast.

Personal life

Military service

Lee enlisted for his mandatory military service on August 7, 2014, and was assigned as a public service worker. He was discharged in August 2016.

Filmography

Film

Television series

Music video appearances

Discography

Albums

Soundtrack

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Min-ki 1985 births Living people People from Gimhae Male actors from South Gyeongsang Province Musicians from South Gyeongsang Province South Korean male film actors South Korean male models South Korean male television actors Konkuk University alumni Best New Actor Paeksang Arts Award (film) winners