Lee Minho’s fame is exceptional—being widely recognized as one of the biggest Hallyu actors and ultimate heartthrobs in South Korea and the world, he is every girl’s first Korean crush. He was born on June 22, 1987 and became a household name when he played a lead role in KBS’ popular series, Boys Over Flowers (2009). With his handsome looks, height, and talent, he continued to gain worldwide fame, stealing people’s hearts through his successful projects, including Personal Taste (2010), The Heirs (2013), The Legend of the Blue Sea (2016), The King Eternal Monarch (2020), and Pachinko (2022).
Here are seven more things to know about the superstar:
1. He is referred to as “the King of social media”.
Referred to as “the King of social media”, he is followed by 32 million fans on Instagram as of writing and was the first Korean celebrity to garner 20 million followers on the said platform including Facebook. Besides his media influence, he was voted as “the Asian male god” in a Chinese entertainment magazine and selected as “the most favoured Korean actor” by fans in the US.
2. He has a heart of gold.
However superstar, Lee Minho reflects a man of class and benevolence who uses his influence to raise awareness in social and humanitarian causes. He has donated funds to various organizations to help people in need and even set up a fundraising platform named PROMIZ to share love through charity projects with his fans called “Minoz”. In 2016, PROMIZ was recognized by the Korea Good Brand Awards and honored an award. Lee Minho has also a long list of brand ambassadorial roles including campaigns for UNICEF, Korean Tourism, and more. Besides his heart of compassion, he also remains a humble person, showing no arrogance amid his huge popularity.
3. He is a man of many talents.
Besides acting and modeling, he is also into singing but not for the sake of becoming a professional singer, but to dedicate songs for his fans. In 2013, he released his first album “My Everything”, which contains seven tracks and performed them during his fan meetings in Seoul and Asia. In 2020, he launched his official YouTube channel, “leeminho film” and introduced himself as the executive producer and creative director, sharing good content about life from travel to interviews.
4. He survived a car accident twice.
In 2006, he got into a fatal car accident with friends that caused him broken ribs, thigh, ankle, and torn knee cartilage. He was bedridden for months and spent almost a year in the hospital for therapy. In 2011, he survived another terrible car accident while shooting for his film, City Hunter, where he suffered minor injuries and continued with his work after receiving treatment. Due to his history of injuries, he was excused from strenuous military duties and instead assigned as a public service officer at the Suseo Social Welfare Centre in May 2018 and discharged in April 2019.
5. His ultimate childhood dream is to be a soccer player.
With much interest for soccer during his childhood days, Lee Minho got into the junior soccer class of Cha Bum-geum, a famous football player known to select and train soccer prodigies only. However, he suffered an arm injury in a match that led to the end of his childhood dream.
6. He had two wax figures displayed at a famous museum.
In 2013, Lee Minho became the first Korean actor to get a wax figure in his image displayed at the museum of Madame Tussauds in Shanghai, China. In 2014, he got another wax figure displayed in Hongkong by Madame Tussauds, recognized as the largest wax figure museum in the world that displays the wax figues of famous people including Queen Elizabeth, Michael Jackson, and more. It has several branches in various cities around the world.
7. He has received 41 awards out of 81 nominations.
So far, Lee Minho has received 41 wins out of 81 nominations throughout his career, including one Grand Prize (Daesang) award at the 2015 Korea Brand Stars, three trophies from Baeksang Arts Awards, one win from Grand Bell Awards, and two trophies from Gold Derby Awards in Hollywood. He was also listed eight times by Forbes Korea Power Celebrity from 2010 to 2022.
What can we expect from Lee Minho in 2023? Besides his role as Hansu in the second season of Pachinko, we will see him play a doctor who visits the space station as a tourist and falls in love with an American-Korean astronaut in the series, Ask The Stars,
Cover image: actorleeminho
KORB 