Lee Ji-ah

Lee Ji-ah

Lee in March 2023

Born Kim Sang-eun

August 6, 1978 (age 45)[1]

Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea[2]

Other names Kim Ji-ah

E Ji-ah

Occupation Actress

Years active 2007–present

Agent BH Entertainment

Seo Taiji
Spouse
 (m. 1997; div. 2006)

Korean name

Hangul 이지아

Hanja 李智雅

Revised Romanization I Ji-a

McCune–Reischauer I Chia

Birth name

Hangul 김상은

Revised Romanization Gim Sang-eun

McCune–Reischauer Kim Sangŭn

Kim Sang-eun (Korean: 김상은; born August 6, 1978), known professionally as Lee Ji-
ah, is a South Korean actress. She rose to fame with her role in the television
drama The Legend (2007), and has since further participated in Beethoven
Virus (2008), Athena: Goddess of War (2010), Me Too, Flower! (2011), Thrice Married
Woman (2013), My Mister (2018), The Penthouse: War in Life (2020–2021) and Queen
of Divorce (2024).
Early life[edit]
Lee was born as Kim Sang-eun on August 6, 1978, in Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea.
[2]
Her grandfather is educator Kim Soon-heung [ko] (His pro Japanese activities during
the 1940s are controversial[3]), one of the patrons for the creation Seoul Arts High
School, and was chairman of Kyunggi High School.[4] Her father was a businessman.
She was in the sixth grade when her family moved to the U.S. and stayed there for 10
years.
She majored in graphic design at the Pasadena Art Center College of Design.[5][6]
During a brief visit to Korea in 2004, she made her entertainment debut by appearing in
an LG Telecom TV commercial with actor Bae Yong-joon.[7] She left the U.S. and
returned to Korea in early 2005 and legally changed her name from Kim Sang-eun to
Kim Ji-ah and adopted the stage name Lee Ji-ah.[8][9]
Career[edit]
2007–2013[edit]
In 2007, Lee made her acting debut in the fantasy television series The
Legend opposite Bae Yong-joon. The high-profile, big-budget production shot Lee
instantly to stardom.[10][11][12][13] At the year-end MBC Drama Awards, Lee won the Best New
Actress award, Popularity award, and Best Couple award (with Bae).[14] She again won
Best New Actress for TV at the Baeksang Arts Awards a year later.[15]
She then starred in 2008's Beethoven Virus wherein Lee played a violinist who gets
diagnosed with a disease that results in complete hearing loss.[16]
She was next cast in Style, a TV series based on the 2008 chick lit novel of the same
title. Inspired by The Devil Wears Prada, Lee played a hardworking assistant to a
perfectionist fashion magazine editor played by Kim Hye-soo.[17][18][19] She next starred in
the Korean-Japanese romance film The Relation of Face, Mind and
Love alongside Kang Ji-hwan, which marks her big-screen debut.[20]
In late 2009, she joined the seven-part "Telecinema" series, which brought together
Korean stars and directors, and Japanese writers. Each "telecinema" was released in
movie theaters and also aired on television on SBS.[21]
Lee then co-starred along Jung Woo-sung, Cha Seung-won and Soo Ae in the 2010 spy
series Athena: Goddess of War, a spin-off to 2009's Iris.[22][23][24]
In 2011, she starred in the television drama Me Too, Flower!, playing an ill-tempered
police officer who falls in love with a young millionaire masquerading as a parking
attendant.[25][26][27][28][29][30]
When Lee's five-year contract with Bae's agency KeyEast expired on December 31,
2011, she signed with Will Entertainment in March 2012.[31][32][33] In 2013, she took on the
leading role in Thrice Married Woman.[34]
2014–present[edit]
In April 2014, Lee signed with a new management agency, HB Entertainment.[35] This
was followed by a three-picture contract with Hollywood indie outfit Maybach Film
Productions as a screenwriter.[36][37]
In 2015, Lee starred in the two-episode fantasy drama Snow Lotus Flower.[38]
In 2016, Lee made her big screen comeback in the action thriller film Musudan.[39] In May
2016, Lee left HB Entertainment and signed with new management agency BH
Entertainment.[40]
In 2018, after a three-year hiatus, Lee made her return to the small screen in the
melodrama My Mister.[41] The same year, she was cast in the horror mystery drama The
Ghost Detective.[42]
In 2020, she starred in TV series The Penthouse: War in Life aired on SBS TV from
October 26, 2020 to September 10, 2021.[43]
Personal life[edit]
In March 2011, a photo taken by a tourist of Lee and Athena co-star Jung Woo-sung on
a date in Paris surfaced on the internet, and the two confirmed that they were
romantically involved.[44][45][46]
On April 21, 2011, Sports Seoul broke the story (later confirmed by numerous media
outlets) that she and Korean pop/rock icon Seo Taiji had been secretly married since
1997, before splitting in 2006. News leaked after two hearings had been held at the
Seoul Family Court (court papers used Seo and Lee's birth names - Jeong Hyeon-cheol
and Kim Sang-eun, respectively) since Lee filed a ₩5.5 billion lawsuit against Seo
for alimony and division of assets. Both celebrities were believed to have been single.[47]
[48][49][50][51][52]

Lee left for the United States to study in 1993 and met Seo through an acquaintance at
a concert in Los Angeles the same year. They developed a long-distance relationship
through letters and phone calls while Lee stayed in the U.S. and Seo went back to
Korea to continue his entertainment activities with his band Seo Taiji and Boys. In 1996,
Seo announced his retirement from show business, after which he went to the U.S.
where he and Lee quietly married on October 12, 1997. The couple lived in the States,
moving to Atlanta and then Arizona.[6][53][54][55]
They separated when Seo returned to Korea in June 2000 for his comeback to the K-
pop scene as a solo artist. Lee, who stayed behind in the U.S., began divorce
proceedings in 2006 at the Santa Monica Family Court on the grounds of irreconcilable
differences due to incompatible lifestyles and personalities.[56]
Lee claimed in the 2011 lawsuit that she filed for the divorce in 2006 and the court
decision became effective in 2009, thus the three years required under Korean law for
seeking alimony hadn't expired. But Seo's assertion was that the divorce officially took
effect on August 9, 2006, and the statute of limitations had passed.[57] Lee lodged the suit
in January and withdrew it on April 30, citing psychological suffering after her private life
was made public.[58][59][60][61][62] Seo's lawyers opposed the motion,[63][64] and Lee resumed her
case, with her lawyer arguing that the California court ruling was invalid and that the two
were still legally married.[65][66] Through mediation, the ex-couple reached an out-of-court
settlement in July 2011, which included a non-disclosure agreement.[67][68][69][70]
Filmography[edit]
Film[edit]

Year Title Role Notes Ref.

The Relation of Face, Mind and

2009 Wang So-jung
Love
Year Title Role Notes Ref.

2011 Athena: The Movie Han Jae-hee

2016 Musudan Shin Yoo-hwa

2020 Swimming Bird Eun-chae Short Film [71]

TVING Shorts
2022 It's Alright [72]

Film

Television series[edit]

Year Title Role Notes Ref.

2007 The Legend Sujini / Saeoh

2008 Beethoven Virus Du Ru-mi

2009 Style Lee Seo-jung

2010 Athena: Goddess of War Han Jae-hee

2011 Me Too, Flower! Cha Bong-sun

2013 Thrice Married Woman Oh Eun-soo

Drama Special : Snow Lotus one act-

2015 Han Yeon-woo
Flower drama

2018 My Mister Kang Yoon-hee

 Year Title Role Notes Ref.

The Ghost Detective Sun Woo-hye

2020– Shim Su-ryeon / Na Ae-kyo

The Penthouse: War in Life Season 1–3
2021 /Madame Na

Hong Tae-ra / Mun Ha-gyeong /

2023 Pandora: Beneath the Paradise [73]

No.50

2024 Queen of Divorce Kim Sa-ra [74]

Television show[edit]

Year Title Role Notes Ref.

Sea of
Cast member Head Chef [75]

Hope
2021

The Home Narrator Space Grand Documentary Project [76]

Music video appearances[edit]

Year Title Artist

2010 "Please Come Back to Me" Vibe

Discography[edit]
Singles[edit]

Title Year Album

As lead artist
"Love Virus" 2008

"Cupcake and Alien" 2009 Non-album single

"Vampire Romance" 2010

As featured artist

"So Much"
(Super Sta featuring Baby Boy's Soul and Lee Ji- 2008 Non-album single
ah)

Awards and nominations[edit]

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Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the
nomination

Nominee /
Award ceremony Year Category Result Ref.
Work

Top Excellence Award, Actress Thrice Married

APAN Star Awards 2014 Nominated
in a Serial Drama Woman

Baeksang Arts
2008 Best New Actress (TV) The Legend Won
Awards

Thrice Married
Korea Drama Awards 2014 Top Excellence Award, Actress Nominated
Woman

[77]
Korea Culture and 2021 Grand Prize (Drama category) The Penthouse: Won
Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the
nomination

Nominee /
Award ceremony Year Category Result Ref.
Work

Entertainment Awards War in Life

Best New Actress Won

The Legend
Popularity Award, Actress Won
2007
MBC Drama Awards
Lee Ji-ah (with Bae
Best Couple Award Yong-joon) Won
The Legend

2008 Excellence Award, Actress Beethoven Virus Nominated

Excellence Award, Actress in a

2009 Style Nominated
Drama Special

Top Excellence Award, Actress Athena: Goddess

2011 Nominated
in a Special Planning Drama of War

Top Excellence Award, Actress Thrice Married

2014 Nominated
SBS Drama Awards in a Serial Drama Woman

Top Excellence Award, Actress The Penthouse:

2020 Won [78]

in a Mid-Length Drama War in Life

Top Excellence Award, Actress The Penthouse:

2021 in a Miniseries Genre/Fantasy War in Life 2 and Nominated [79]

Drama 3
 Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the
nomination

Nominee /
Award ceremony Year Category Result Ref.
Work

Seoul International The Penthouse:

2021 Outstanding Korean Actress Nominated [80][81]

Drama Awards War in Life

Listicles[edit]

Name of publisher, year listed, name of listicle, and placement

Placemen
Publisher Year Listicle Ref.
t

Forbes 2022 Korea Power Celebrity 19th [82]

Reference:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Ji-ah