Lee Se-young

Lee Se-young is a South Korean actress who truly grew up in front of the camera. She started as a child actress in the classic Jewel in the Palace and grew into one of the most trusted leading ladies of her generation, crowned by her award-winning performance in The Red Sleeve.

Early life

Lee Se-young was born on 20 December 1992 in Seoul, South Korea. She debuted as a child actress in the late 1990s and appeared in Jewel in the Palace (2003) as the young Geum-yeong, the rival of the heroine. Years of steady work as a young actress taught her strong skills and discipline from an early age.

Career and breakthrough

Her adult breakthrough came with The Gentlemen of Wolgyesu Tailor Shop (2016), which won her a best new actress award at the Baeksang Arts Awards. She then showed her range in the fantasy comedy A Korean Odyssey (2017) and the medical drama Doctor John (2019), where she played a kind and capable doctor.

Popular roles

In 2021, The Red Sleeve made Lee Se-young a top star. As Sung Deok-im, a court lady who wants to choose her own life, she gave a performance full of pride, humour and heartbreak, and the drama became one of the most loved historical series of recent years. She followed it with the cheerful legal romance The Law Cafe and the cross-border love story What Comes After Love.

Recent work and why fans love them

In The Remarried Empress (2026), Lee Se-young takes a bold new step as Rashta Isqua, the runaway slave who becomes a rival empress, one of the most famous characters in web novel history. Fans love watching her grow bolder with every role while keeping the warmth that made them love her as a child star.