Lee Seo-jin

Lee Seo-jin made his acting debut in 1999 in the television series House Above the Waves. After several supporting roles on TV, he rose to fame in the 2003 hit period drama Damo, followed by another popular contemporary drama Phoenix in 2004.^[3][4] Lee then landed his first big screen leading role in the 2005 action blockbuster Shadowless Sword.^[5]

Lee played a vampire in the cable series Freeze (2006), a gangster in Lovers (2006),^[4] and a criminal profiler in Soul (2009).^[6][7] He expanded his new audience when he portrayed Korean historical characters King Jeongjo of Joseon in Yi San (2007),^[8] and General Gyebaek of Baekje in Gyebaek (2011).^[9][10]

Lee comes from a family with strong ties to the financial sector, and was believed to be involved in the banking, transportation and tourism industries, among others. He has a Business Management degree from the New York University Stern School of Business. In 2011, Lee joined the company Ask Veritas Assets Management, which specializes in intellectual property and real estate investment. He was appointed managing director for the firm's second global contents division.^[11][12][13]

A regular volunteer of Habitat for Humanity since 2006, he was appointed its Goodwill Ambassador for Korea in 2008.^[14][15] Together with the Nippon Foundation and South Korean food franchise Genesis, Lee established the "Let's Tree Fund" in 2010 to conduct reforestation activities.^[16] In 2011, Lee joined relief efforts for victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.^[17] Like many celebrities, Lee also publicly protested the forced repatriation of North Korean defectors.^{[citation needed]}