The Reason Why I'm Attracted to Lee Min-ho from

The Reason Why I'm Attracted to Lee Min-ho from <Pachinko>

Ko Han-soo, played by Lee Min-ho, is a complex and subtle character. Conflict between love and ambition gradually turns into a villain. Ko Han-soo is a handsome villain, and he has charm beyond that.

pic = Lee Min-ho from <Pachinko>

Lee Min-ho is worth his name. He became a 'Top Korean Wave Star' through the dramas <Boys Over Flowers>, <The Heirs>, <Legend of the Blue Sea>, and <The King: The Lord of Eternity>. Everyone wants to work with him because he is tall, handsome, acts well, and guarantees success.

<Pachinko> is Lee Min-ho's first online video service (OTT). It changed not only the platform but also the character. Ko Han-soo, a man full of ambition and instinct for success. He, who has often played a cool and fantasy character, needed a big resolution. So he auditioned for the first time in 13 years after <Boys Over Flowers>. So he took on the role of Ko Han-soo. Lee Min-ho said in an interview about <Pachinko>, "I've always acted with the burden of ratings and box office success. I felt like I could freely act with essential emotions under such pressure" he said, expressing his affection for the character.

A talent for choosing a drama

He carefully chose his work, has been transformed into a new figure every time, and has gained a lot of experience by acting various roles since his unknown days. Since <Boys Over Flowers>, all of the leading films have recorded at least 10% of the average viewer rating, and the highest viewer rating has been 35% based on TNS(Korea Research).

Lee Min-ho paid more attention to his inner self than his appearance to play Ko Han-soo. He deliberately didn't go on a diet or take care of himself to make it seem clunky. Thanks to him, his acting skills are more eye-catching. As he continues to perform in the drama, he transforms into real 'Ko Han-soo'. He changes from a good person to a bad person who does everything he can to a desired goal, so his eyes gradually change. Who could express Ko Han-soo among Korean male actors without Lee Min-ho? 

Lee Min-ho said, "I want you to know that we are alive because of the sacrifices and efforts of our ancestors rather than knowing about Korean history through this work. I hope we can have time to look back on ourselves and think about what we can do for the next generation," he added. His mentality is also first-rate. This is why I look forward to my Friday.

Lee Min-ho's Profile

A South Korean actor. He started acting as a child, and in 2009, he became a star by playing 'Gu Jun-pyo' among F4 in the Korean version of <Boys Over Flowers> with high ratings. He played his unique cheesy lines deliciously and was also told by fans that "Lee Min-ho is a genre". He is also one of the most handsome Korean actors because he has dark double eyelids and dark lines. He is an actor of good conduct and character.

Gyeong-ju Lee, South Korea

Born in Seoul on June 22, 1987

187cm, blood type A

Has no religion

Debuted in 2003 with KBS2 drama <Round Up>

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Became a rising star

In the meantime, he was selected as the main character 'Gu Jun-pyo' in the Korean version of KBS' <Boys Over Flowers> and hit a huge audience rating with his unique conch bread hair, creating a syndrome and joining the rising youth star ranks. 

pic = @KBS World

At this time, the popularity was considerable, so most entertainment and comedy programs and characters who appeared in the neighborhood with their unique conch bun hair were necessarily there. He was also said to be the closest to the original work chosen by the Japanese among the casts of <Boys Over Flowers> in the three Asian countries. With the drama, Lee will become a top star after five years of obscurity. It's simply changed his life. In addition, when <Boys Over Flowers> was re-populated due to algorithms in 2021, his acting was the only stable, showing his ability as an actor once again.

Joined the ranks of Korean Wave actors

And he chose the SBS drama <City Hunter>. The drama in which Lee Min-ho starred, was planned differently from the original from the beginning and was produced under the pretense of prequel. The writer of <City Hunter> expressed great satisfaction with Lee Min-ho's casting as the main character and even sent an autograph to reveal it at the production presentation. Rather, it became a popular drama with a differentiated scenario from the original and became a highly social drama. His acting skills as well as his charm stood out, and his eyes and action acting were especially well received. With <City Hunter>, Lee Min-ho became almost syndrome-class in China. In addition, because of the strong overseas fandom, the drama export contract is also strong. Especially in the Philippines, Lee Min-ho is said to be a huge star who knows everything by name. In the Philippines, it is said that more people than Beyonce or Mariah Carey flock to the fan meeting.

pic = @SBS

In 2013, he played the main character Kim Tan in <The Heirs> by Kim Eun-sook, the queen of romantic comedy, and maintained the top spot in the end-of-the-year drama series with a highest audience rating of 25.6 percent. He played a friendly, straight-forward high school student calmly. He won the 2013 SBS Drama Awards in five categories: Best Actor, Best Dresser, Top 10 Star, Popularity for Viewers and Best Couple. <The Heirs> is also popular in China, making Lee Min-ho the best star. In January 2014, he was the first Korean to appear on Chinese CCTV's Chunwan, which is said to be difficult for foreigners to appear, recording the highest viewer rating the moment Lee Min-ho appeared, and 700 million viewers watched it.

In 2016, he played Heo Jun-jae and Kim Dam-ryeong in <Legend of the Blue Sea> and was praised as best actor for his delicate and differentiated acting across romantic comedies, action, and thrillers, and was popular in Asia, including Taiwan and China, and was named No. 1 favorite male actor on 'Han Cinema', a Korean film and drama database building.

At the 12th "Soompi" Awards hosted by the largest Korean Wave portal in the English-speaking world, he won the top actor of the year and the <Legend of the Blue Sea> was selected as the drama of the year, and won the best couple and three awards. In the "Best Actor of 2016" vote conducted by Philippine video streaming platform Iplix, he was ranked first with 41.75% of support. <The Legend of the Blue Sea>, which worked with Jeon Ji-hyun, ended with a 21% viewer rating.

He appeared as Lee Gon in <The King: The Lord of Eternity> as his return film after his military service in 2019. In Korea, the work was not well received, but it was said that Lee Min-ho's popularity increased as it gained a lot of popularity through Netflix overseas. In particular, in the case of Nigeria, Lee Min-ho's syndrome is said to have become a social phenomenon and has become a national son-in-law.

He starred in Apple TV+'s <Pachinko> which was released on March 25, 2022.

How does Lee Min-ho feel about <Pachinko>?

Lee Min-ho, who finished the Apple TV Plus original series <Pachinko> said, "I feel like I'm reborn. It reminded me of the time when I auditioned for KBS2's <Boys Over Flowers>. There were many points where the emotions I felt 13 years ago intersect. I was always on my way back from God's end, and I doubted more than ever whether I was right. I wanted to express it sincerely and I was able to fall into it fiercely," he recalled.

<Pachinko> is a chronicle of love and separation, victory and judgment with the lives of 'eternal strangers' Zainichi (Korean residents in Japan), who were not comfortable anywhere from Japanese colonial era to the 1980s. Lee Min-ho, who joined <Pachinko> through an audition 13 years after <Boys Over Flowers> said, "After reading the script after receiving an audition offer, I wanted to do this work, this character. The power of the story itself was enormous. In it, Han-soo was heartbroken because he sympathized with Han-soo's life and survival in his own way," he confessed.

In <Pachinko>, he played Ko Han-soo an attractive character who shook the life of Sun-ja (played by Kim Min-ha) when he was young. Armed with his intelligent brain and shrewd business skills, Han Soo is a person who secretly shares love with a fairy who knows nothing about the world.

<She is Kim Min-ha, the teenage "Sunja" of Pachinko!> Click!

Regarding the emphasis on expressing Han-soo, who has a complex inner circle, he said, "I wanted to express the change in which a person who was the absolute good lives in the form of absolute evil in the process of life and death. In a desperate era, I thought I had to kill someone to live by looking forward and being rough in Han-soo's way," he replied. In what he cared about, he said, "I thought I was a person who could attack anyone at any time and was ready to counteract the energy of the opponent, so I wanted my face to be more rough than sharp. So I didn't go on a diet or take care of myself like I did when I was preparing for Korean dramas," he said with a smile.

In many ways, <Pachinko> has become an inflection point for him. He said, "I didn't mean to, but I always played a lot of cool, fantasy-like characters. In that sense, it was a time to break down the refined me and go back to the wild and express humans in a primitive way."

Since he is already one of the top stars in Korea, entering OTT and trying new challenges may come as a burden, but it has been resorved. "I have always acted with the burden of ratings and box office success. I received an audition proposal for this work at a time when I was seriously thinking about how to be free from these things for a few years. One of the big reasons why I decided to appear was that I thought I could freely act with essential emotions under such pressure. And as I expected, it was the most free-spirited work for me personally," he said sincerely.

pic = @LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 16

Lee Min-ho, who is driving the popularity of K-content as a Korea Wave Star, said, "I feel like I'm living in a really happy era. It was possible because there were many seniors, including Lee Jung-jae of <Squid Game>. I feel more responsible in that regard because Korean content is easily accessible and feels new in more countries" he said.

If you want to know more about <7even questions left in Squid Game>? Click!

"It's an era where you can easily sympathize with and listen to the culture and history of other countries more than before. In that respect, I was honored and happy to participate as an actor who had to share the dark but painful side of Korea and express sympathy for the pain of that time. Rather than asking us to know about Korean history through this work, I hope we can have time to look back on ourselves and think about what we can do for the next generation because of the sacrifices and efforts of our ancestors." he said.