SEOUL, Nov 25 — Lee Soon-jae, a towering figure in South Korea’s entertainment industry whose career stretched nearly seven decades across stage, television and film, has died at the age of 91, his family said today.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Lee remained active in front of audiences until late last year and held a reputation as one of the country’s most versatile and respected performers.
Born in 1934 in Hoeryong, now part of North Korea, Lee moved to Seoul at the age of four, before the outbreak of the Korean War.
He discovered acting while studying at Seoul National University and made his stage debut in 1956 with the play Beyond the Horizon.
Over the decades he built an extensive body of work, appearing in around 140 television dramas, including the hugely popular What on Earth is Love, which aired from 1991 to 1992 and drew viewership ratings of up to 65 per cent.
Lee found renewed fame in his 70s through the sitcoms High Kick! (2006) and High Kick Through the Roof (2009), which introduced him to younger audiences.
He later appeared in the travel-themed reality show Grandpas Over Flowers in 2013 and continued taking on major theatre roles into his 80s, including King Lear in 2021.
He stepped back from acting in October last year citing health concerns, and in 2024 became the oldest recipient of an award at the KBS Drama Awards.
Beyond his screen and stage work, Lee also briefly entered politics, winning a parliamentary seat in 1992 under the then-ruling Democratic Liberal Party.
