Who was Lee Yoon-hee?: Veteran South Korean actor passes at 64

Despite not being a household name, Lee Yoon-hee can be considered one of South Korea's most recognisable faces on TV for his many minor roles. His cause of death at the age of 64 still remains a mystery.

Image: Beom Entertainment

Lee Yoon-hee was a South Korean actor. To date, he has quite the acting resume under his belt, having his first on-screen acting role in 2007, and had been an active actor until his untimely passing on January 11, 2025.

Image: OCN

According to Namu, Lee Yoon-hee was born on January 28, 1960. He is a native of Busan, South Korea, and had his alma mater at Dong-Eui University, where he majored in English Language and Literature.

Image: leeyoonhee01 / Instagram

ET News reports that Lee Yoon-hee's acting career initially started earlier in 1985, when he starred in the play 'There's Soup'.

Image: Beom Entertainment

However, did you know that Lee Yoon-hee's decision to pursue acting formally and start appearing on screen in 2007 was due to the 1997 IMF Crisis that happened in South Korea?

Image: ahn_sebin / Instagram

According to Namu, Lee Yoon-hee hoped to be a playwright for children's plays but ended up incurring a large debt in the process. Due to the huge debt, he pursued other business opportunities.

Image: Beom Entertainment

According to the same Namu report, Lee Yoon-hee attempted to start a stationery store and subsequently a food business, but both failed. Following these failed efforts, he chose to quit and return to acting, which turned out to be a successful profession for him as the actor we know today!

Image: Beom Entertainment

Lee Yoon-hee was mostly known for his minor acting roles, with his latest prior to his death being in the TvN series 'Captivating the King', where he played the role of Choam Kim Je-nam.

Image: SBS

Some of Lee Yoon-hee's other works include 'Taxi Driver', 'Song of The Bandits', and 'Black Dog'.

Image: TvN

What made Lee Yoon-hee's death such a shock to the K-entertainment industry was that the actor was known to have no known underlying illnesses prior to his death, reports Xports News. No additional information has been revealed regarding his passing today.

Image: SBS