Lee Young-ae is a South Korean actress. She is known for her appearances in the Korean historical dramaDae Jang Geum, and as a revenge seeking single mother in Park Chan-wook's crime thriller filmSympathy for Lady Vengeance.
Career
Lee made her debut as a model in 1991. After appearing in television commercials, she debuted as an actress in the 1993 drama How's Your Husband?, which won her Best New Actress at the SBS Drama Awards. In 2000, she starred in the mystery thriller filmJoint Security Area, which became the highest-grossing Korean film at that time. She followed this with melodrama Last Present, where she received acclaim for her performance as a young woman facing the realities of an early death. Lee reunited with director Hur Jin-ho to star in his next film One Fine Spring Day, which won her Best Actress at the Busan Film Critics Awards. She also starred in the TV series Fireworks, which introduced Lee to Taiwan audiences. Lee came to prominence in South Korea after starring in the historical drama Dae Jang Geum. It first aired from September 15, 2003 to March 23, 2004 on MBC, where it was the top program with an average viewership rating of 46.3% and a peak of 57.8% award at the MBC Drama Awards, as well as the Top Excellence award. The show was then aired overseas in 91 countries and became exceptionally popular in Asia. The fame of Dae Jang Geum launched Lee into pan-Asia stardom as one of the biggest Hallyu stars. She has been invited to visit mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Japan. In 2006, for the first time in 12 years, NHK had to use the NHK Hall to host the NHK show due to her popularity; and stamps featuring Lee was also released in Japan. She was also invited to the 2007 Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival in China. Lee then starred in the third installment in Park Chan-wook's The Vengeance Trilogy, titled Sympathy For Lady Vengeance. She was awarded Best Actress at the 2005 Blue Dragon Film Awards and 2006 Baeksang Art Awards for her performance in the film. In 2006, Lee was invited sit on the jury bench of the International Berlin Film Festival, becoming the first Korean actress to be selected as a jury member of the international film festival. In 2007, she received the Medal of Culture Merit for her contribution to the Korean Wavefrom the South Korean government. In 2015, it was announced that Lee would be making her comeback to television in SBS historical series Saimdang, Memoir of Colors. She would be playing dual roles as Shin Saimdang, a famed Joseon-era artist and calligrapher as well as a modern-day Korean history lecturer. The drama premiered in January 2017. In 2018, Lee was cast in the film Find Me, returning to the big screen after 13 years.
Philanthropy
Besides her acting career, she has also been involved with several charities. In 1997 she went to Ethiopia as a NGO Goodwill Ambassador. She went to Thar Desert in 1999 to do a about people in India's lowest social caste. Later in 2001, she published these experiences in her autobiography “A Most Special Love” with partial English and donated the income from the sale of the book to charity. She was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador in 2004 by UNICEF and has since held several charity functions. She has made many donations to schools and hospitals, including the Chosun First Middle School in Harbin and an elementary school in China that was thereafter renamed Lee Young-Ae Elementary School. In 2012, she served as the celebrity spokesperson for the "Love Donation" project, hosted by Woman Chosun magazine. She donated a large sum of money which will be used to build a school in Myanmar. In 2012, Lee launched a business handling organic and environmentally friendly products for children in Seoul. In July 2014, Taiwanese media reported that Lee had privately assisted a pregnant Taiwanese woman who was vacationing with her husband in Seoul. The woman gave birth to her daughter prematurely and the infant had several complications. Lee found out about the couple through her friend and decided to pay their medical bills, which amounted to around NT$4 million because the infant required two surgeries and constant medical care after she was born. Lee was subsequently given an award by Taiwan's Chou Ta-Kuan Cultural and Educational Foundation. In 2016, she helped a Vietnamese girl who came to Korea to treat her brain tumor, by donating a total of 37 million won to cover the operation and other medical bills. Her popularity in Sri Lanka, known locally as "Changumi", ultimately led to the creation of the "Sujatha Diyani Scholarship Fund" in 2014 where she donated US$100 000. The fund aims at providing financial assistance to female students of low income families. Lee also became the first actress to join the "Chime for Change" campaign, which was created by Gucci to "raise funds and awareness for projects promoting education, health, and justice for girls and women" around the world. In 2015, Lee was appointed to be a special envoy for the UNESCO Korean Commission. She works with the organization to promote the commission's activities such as fundraising and a campaign to render educational support to underdeveloped countries.
Personal life
In 2009, Lee married Jeong Ho-young, a Korean-American businessman 17 years her senior. On February 20, 2011, Lee gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl.
