Biography of the Month

Each month, the Sejong Society of will profile an influential Korean politician, business mogul, or cultural icon. Profiles will be those from Korea's past and present to help future U.S. policymakers understand key players on the Korean Peninsula.

Lee Young-Ae (이영애)


Born on January 31, 1971, Lee Young-Ae first appeared on television in 1993, but it wasn't until 1995 that she began acting in many TV dramas and gathering a large fan following. She won various television awards in the mid-1990s, and in 1996 she made her film debut in the poorly received Inch'Allah. The negative reputation this film garnered may have pushed back her film career several years, but when she did return it was with a bang in the record-breaking Joint Security Area by Park Chan-Wook. At the time it became the best-selling Korean film ever, and it launched Lee Young-Ae into undisputed stardom.


Joint Security Area (JSA) (2000)

In 2001 Lee continued to build on her film career, starring in the popular melodrama Last Present opposite Lee Jung-jae, and also in the second feature by Hur Jin-Ho, director of the acclaimed Christmas in August. This film was released in late September to great critical acclaim, and it landed Lee a Best Actress award from the local Blue Dragon awards.

For the next few years, Lee did not appear in any films, but from 2003 she took the lead role in a hugely popular TV drama called “Dae Jang-Geum” (Jewel in the Palace), which revived her popularity among ordinary viewers. The drama was such a success that several countries had repeats of the drama shortly after the last episode had ended. In 2005 the drama was also screened in Hong Kong, where it became the most successful Korean drama ever to screen in the territory, topping 40% in viewer ratings.


A scene from "Dae Jang-Geum"
(Jewel in the Palace)

Beside her acting career, she is also involved in many charity events. In 1997 she went to Ethiopia as a NGO Goodwill Ambassador and experienced the poverty and illness of African children. She went to the Thar Desert (India/Pakistan) in 1999 to do a TV documentary on the lower caste society in India. Later in 2001, she published these experiences in her autobiography “A Most Special Love” and donated all of the income from the sale of the book to charity.

She was appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador in 2004 by UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund), and held several charity functions from that time on. She made many donations to schools and hospitals, which include an elementary school in China such that the school was renamed “Lee Young-Ae Elementary School,” and the “Chosun First Middle School” in Harbin, China.

From her 2006 autobiography “Young-Ae’s Vow,” she talked about how she became an actress. She recalled what made her going into show business was working with Andy Lau in a 1991 chocolate advertisement. In 1995, she made a decision to go to graduate school to learn theory of acting. Since then, she has not changed to challenge various kinds of acting roles, like that in “Dae Jang Geum” and later a very different role in “Sympathy For Lady Vengeance.” “Acting is not something that anyone can learn if they are instructed b the right person,” Lee said in an interview with The Korea Times. “It must come from a desire deep within yourself.”

She was awarded Best Actress awards in the Blue Dragon Film Festival in 2005, and in the Baeksang Art Awards in 2006 for the film “Sympathy For Lady Vengeance.”

Her major contract in 2006 and 2007 is with LG Group, a large South Korean conglomerate. She became the spokesmodel for all LG Electronics' products. In January of 2007, she received a gratitude frame from LG Electronics for her successful promotion of their products.


Lee Young-Ae as LG's spokesmodel.


When asked in a Chosun Ilbo interview what she would do in 10 years, she replied: “Basically, I think I’ll have a family by then. But since we never even know what tomorrow will bring, I don’t know if I will still be acting that far down the road. But for now, I do love my job.”