Lee Se-eun

Lee Se-eun is a South Korean actress known to classic drama fans around the world. She played Park Yeol-yi in Jewel in the Palace (2003), the legendary historical drama about royal food and medicine that helped spread Korean culture across Asia. Across a long career she has been a steady presence in historical epics and daily dramas.

Lee Se-eun is 165 cm (5 ft 5 in) tall.

Early life

Lee Se-eun was born on August 31, 1980, in Seoul, South Korea. She entered acting as a teenager in the 1990s and learned her craft through film and television roles. Her clear, classic features made her a natural fit for period dramas set in Korea's royal courts.

Career and breakthrough

Lee Se-eun made her acting debut in 1999 and gained wider popularity with the horror film Bunshinsaba (2004), which became a hit in Korea and China. On television she appeared in Bodyguard (2003) the same year she joined Jewel in the Palace, the drama that would define her early career for global fans.

Popular roles

In Jewel in the Palace (2003), Lee Se-eun plays Park Yeol-yi, a fellow court lady training beside Jang-geum in the royal kitchen. She went on to the huge 100-episode epic Yeon Gaesomun (2006) and played Wi Hong-ran in The King of Legend (2010). She also starred in the film Once in a Summer (2006) and the drama Coma.

Recent work and why fans love her

Lee Se-eun led the daily drama Angel's Revenge (2014) as Lee Jin-yoo, carrying more than 100 episodes with her steady acting. Fans of classic K-drama love her graceful image and her place in the first great wave of Korean historical drama. Her work remains a doorway into K-drama history.