Discovered while working at a cafe in the trendy Seoul neighborhood of Apgujeong, Lee Jung-jae began his career as a model. He made the transition to television with 1993's Dinosaur Teacher and became a star almost overnight. He gained his first film role in 1994 in The Young Man but that same year the TV drama Feelings cemented Lee as a household name. Sandglass saw his silent bodyguard character gain more and more screen time over the course of increasingly behemoth ratings because audiences just wanted to see more of him. Lee was a heartthrob and went on to star in several more dramas before a starring role in E J-yong's 1998 romantic drama An Affair turned him into a full fledged movie star.

Lee followed this up with a Blue Dragon Film Award for his role in 1999's City of the Rising Sun, where he played a gambling addicted swindler who befriends a washed up boxer. He appeared in romantic dramas and comedies such as Il Mare, Last Present, and Over The Rainbow, but he also starred in action and thriller films like The Last Witness and Typhoon. Recently he has had a string of hits with films like the international crime caper The Thieves, gangster political film New World and Joseon-era court drama The Face Reader – the latter two films in particular have demonstrated Lee's maturation as a character actor, where he has delivered some of his best dramatic performances to date.

It is for this long career, and the fact that he is one of the biggest stars in South Korea and continues to challenge himself professionally, that we are celebrating Lee Jung-jae as this year's Korean Actor in Focus. We're bringing Lee Jung-jae over with the support of Korean Cultural Service in New York and screening The Face Reader, New World and Il Mare, all with Lee in attendance!