According to the announcement of SG Way Entertainment management company, veteran Korean actor Lee Soon Jae passed away in the early morning of November 25. This unit said that the funeral home and related procedures will be determined later.
Mr. Lee Soon Jae was born in 1934 in Hamgyong North province (in North Korea) and moved to Seoul (Korea) to live since the age of 4. He studied at Seoul High School and studied philosophy at Seoul National University before entering the arts.
In 1960 he attended KBS's first acting course, officially starting his acting career. At the time of his death, he was the oldest active actor in Korea.
During the 1970s-1980s, actor Lee Soon Jae served as President of the Korea Radio and Television Actors Association for 3 terms.
In 1992, he was elected to the 14th National Assembly, representing the Jungnang area (Seoul) as a candidate of the Free Democratic Party, and at the same time held the role of deputy spokesperson and secretary of the Korean - Japanese Parliamentary Alliance.
In addition to television, he participates in many stage activities. In October 2024, he withdrew from Waiting for Godot due to health reasons. In January 2025, he appeared at the 2024 KBS Drama Awards to receive the Daesang Award, becoming the oldest person to be awarded this category.
However, in April, he was absent from the awards ceremony of the Korean Director and Producer Association. The company representative said his health was unstable.
Rumors of declining health have increased after actor Park Geun Hyung's speech at the Waiting for Godot press conference on August 19, saying he was informed that Lee Soon Jae did not want to host due to poor health.
According to Korean media, actor Lee Soon Jae has a nearly 70-year career, appearing in about 140 TV series, including "What on Earth Is Love", "High Kick! , " Hur Jun", "Lee San"... and many programs and stage works. In particular, the work "Family is Number 1" is famous in Korea and throughout Asia.
Since the end of 2024, he has started to reduce his activities due to declining health and canceling some performance schedules.
