appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Celine Ham

It’s been quite the year for rising star Lee Sang-yi following his role in the 2020 drama, Once Again. With his rapidly increasing popularity, he has starred in several dramas and appeared on multiple Korean reality shows. That includes Hangout with Yoo, where the show’s host Yoo Jae-suk chose him to be a member of the project group MSG Wannabe.
Why 2021 is Jang Ki-yong’s year

Here are five things to know about Lee as his star continues to rise.
He rose to stardom through his role in Once Again

Lee was already famous in the music world before becoming a TV star, as he debuted in 2014 in a musical. He took on minor roles in K-dramas, including in the Korean remake of Suits, The Third Charm and, most notably, When the Camellia Blooms, which was one of the most popular K-dramas of 2019. He played the role of a junior school baseball coach.
How Song Kang became the ‘son of Netflix’

His popularity spiked after starring in Once Again, a family drama that aired in 2020. Playing Yoon Jae-seok, a pediatric dentist, Lee’s character begins the show adamant about not getting married, but he ends up developing feelings for Song Da-hee, played by actress Lee Cho-hee.
Many fans fell for Lee after watching his cute scenes in Once Again – and admiring his good looks, of course.

Most recently, Lee starred in historical drama Youth of May, which portrayed the Gwangju Uprising in 1980s Korea.
How Lee Do-hyun and Go Min-si went from siblings to lovers (on screen)
His university besties are famous now, too

Lee is very close to Goblin’s Kim Go-eun, Hospital Playlist’s Ahn Eun-jin, and Vincenzo’s Kim Seong-cheol. Although today, all of them are successful and busy with their own dramas, TV shows and musicals, they share a past. They were in the same cohort when they attended the prestigious Korea National University of Arts, studying drama together and sharing a passion for acting. Netizens call them the “10 hak-beon”, which means “the cohort that started studying in college in 2010”.

When they were still in university, they posted videos of themselves singing together on YouTube. And as they became more well-known, these videos have gone viral.
The stars have mentioned each other in several interviews, sharing funny stories from university. They often comment on each other’s Instagram posts and tease each other too, as good friends do.


In 2018, Lee and Kim Seong-cheol co-starred in the television series, To. Jenny, where they acted together for the first time since graduating from university.
The next Parasite? 5 of South Korea’s hottest cinema releases of 2021
He is a big fan of the singer Rain

Lee has expressed his admiration for the OG K-pop star Rain on multiple occasions. Twelve years ago, when he was in high school, Lee did a choreographed cover of one of Rain’s most iconic songs, Rainism. The video went viral, and fans still love watching his moves. Check it out below!


Kim Tae-hee and Rain: the richest Korean celebrities in real estate?
He loves keeping pet fish

One of Lee’s hobbies is keeping pet fish. When he appeared as a guest on the Korean reality show I Live Alone and introduced his home to the public, what caught viewers’ eyes were the aquariums all around his house.


As people saw on the show, he enjoys collecting fish of different species. Fans saw Lee taking very good care them, feeding them even before having his own breakfast. Some fans even commented on YouTube and social media that they wished to be Lee’s fish.
Inside IU’s lavish new US$11.7 million penthouse
He will be starring in Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha

The good news keeps on coming for K-drama fans. A new show, Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, is in the making, and the first episode has recently been confirmed to air in August. Acting alongside Kim Woo-bin’s girlfriend Shin Min-a and Kim Seon-ho, who forever charmed female fans with his role in Netflix’s Start-Up last year, Lee will be playing Ji Seong-hyun, a workaholic variety show producer.


Want more stories like this? Sign up here. Follow STYLE on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.


South Korea gets a new internet star as Busan shark sighting goes viral

Netflix K-drama The Scandal review: Son Ye-jin, Nana anchor Dangerous Liaisons adaptation

Prime Video K-drama A Love Other Than Yours: Seo Kang-joon, Ahn Eun-jin face 10-year itch

HBO Max K-drama The Ordinary Jackpot: Lee Joon-hyuk hides a lottery win in workplace drama

What's hot in Korea

Lee Sang-yi’s rise to stardom: the MSG Wannabe member is set to star in K-drama Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha alongside Kim Seon-ho, and rose to fame with 2020’s Once Again

K-drama’s Lee Sang-yi is one of the breakout stars of 2021 – here’s 5 things to know about him, from his showbiz friends to his love of fish. Photo: @leesangyi_/Instagram

MSG Wannabe, a group of actors and singers brought together on a TV show who have gone on to have chart success. Photo: @hangout_with_yoo/Instagram

Lee Sang-yi starred in the drama When the Camellia Blooms, where he played the role of a baseball coach. Photo: @leesangyi_/Instagram

Lee Sang-yi and Lee Cho-hee on the set of Once Again. Photo: @leesangyi_/Instagram

Lee Sang Yi with co-star Go Min-si from drama, Youth of May. Photo: @leesangyi_/Instagram

From left, Lee Sang-yi and Ahn Eun-jin guest starred in Running Man, where they showed off their long friendship. Photo: @leesangyi_/Instagram

Lee Sang-yi. Photo: @leesangyi_/Instagram

Lee Sang-yi singing on Hangout with Yoo. Photo: @hangout_with_yoo/Instagram

One of Lee Sang-yi’s fish tanks. Photo: @leesangyi_/Instagram

From left, Lee Sang-yi, Shin Min-a and Kim Seon-ho at a script reading for K-drama, Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha. Photo: @tvndrama.official/Instagram

Queen of everything: how Seo Hyun-jin went from K-pop wannabe to K-drama royalty, now starring in Netflix’s You Are My Spring

Seo Hyun-jin in the well-received K-drama The Beauty Inside. Photo: @management_soop/Instagram

Kim Dong-wook and Seo Hyun-jin in a still from Netflix and TVN’s You Are My Spring. Photo: @tvndrama.official/ Instagram

Seo Hyun-jin delivers her lines with expert clarity and empathy, according to her legions of fans. Photo: @management_soop/Instagram

The versatile actress starring in The Beauty Inside. Photo: @management_soop/Instagram

Seo Hyun-jin’s previous K-drama, Temperature of Love, always aired at the beginning of the week, giving fans something to look forward to after the weekend. Photo: @sbs_temperatureoflove/Instagram

Seo Hyun-jin smiling in front of the coffee truck that fans sent her. Photo: @jinius_shj/Instagram

Seo Hyun-jin in the drama Another Miss Oh. Photo: @tvn_ohhaeyoung/Instagram

5 K-dramas and films delayed by Korea’s fourth Covid-19 wave, from Netflix’s Money Heist to Bogotá: City of the Lost starring Song Joong-ki

Some of Korea’s biggest celebrities, including Kim Hee-seon, Song Joong-ki and Cha Ji-yeon, have been hit hard by Covid-19. Photos: @lovely.katie.k; @jiyeon2__/Instagram, @joongkisource/Twitter

Actress Hee Kim-sun. Photo: @lovely.katie.k/Instagram

A poster for the musical Red Book. Photo: musihsoo/Tumblr

People wearing face masks walk across the street near Yongsan Station in Seoul, South Korea, on July 8, 2021 – when the country reported its highest-ever daily Covid-19 cases. Photo: Xinhua

Song Joong-ki. Photo: @joongkisource/Twitter

A scene of Song Joong-ki in Bogotá: City of the Lost. Photo: hancinema.net

The promotional poster for Be My Dream Family. Photo: mydramalist.com

A photo of the star-studded cast of Suriname. Photo: mydramalist.com

Son Ye-jin in Thirty-Nine: her first K-drama since Crash Landing on You – and going public with Hyun Bin – co-stars Jeon Mi-do from Netflix’s Hospital Playlist

K-drama star Son Ye-jin is taking a new role as a wealthy dermatologist in JTBC’s Thirty-Nine. Photo: @yejincow/Instagram

K-drama star Son Ye-jin. Photo: @SontokkiesPH/Twitter

Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin in Crash Landing on You. Photo: Handout

A screen still from K-drama Something in the Rain. Photo: Handout

Something in the Rain was Son Ye-jin’s first project with JTBC. Photo: Handout

Song Hye-kyo and Park Bo-gum in the K-drama Encounter. Photo: @kdramaunnieee/Twitter

Im Si-wan and Shin Se-kyung in Run On. Photo: Handout

A promotional image for Hospital Playlist season two. Photo: Handout

Jeon Mi-do will co-star with Son Ye-jin. Photo: @lovejeonmido_/Instagram

Netflix’s Money Heist will be remade as a K-drama – plus 5 more Korean adaptations of Western TV shows to watch, from Suits to Criminal Minds to Luther

Netflix’s Money Heist is to be remade in South Korea. Photo: @lacasadepapel/Instagram

4 top K-pop reality shows, from Run BTS to 24/365 with Blackpink and Twice TV – where else can we see BTS bungee jumping and Blackpink bonding over go-karting?

For BTS’ Army fan club, the group’s Run BTS reality show is a must-watch. So what other K-pop idols have their own shows? Photo: Handout

BTS took a short break from filming Run BTS to promote their song Butter, but the show goes on. Photo: @bts.bighitofficial/Instagram

Blackpink upset fans when they were seen cuddling a baby panda, but until then, backstage insights on their reality show had gone down well with fans. Photo: @blackpinkofficial/Instagram

Tight girl groups like Twice do almost everything together – Twice TV lets us see what their lives are really like. Photo: @twicetagram/Instagram

A photo of the NCT members backstage at their recent Beyond Live virtual concert. Photo: @nct/Instagram

Magazines

Style

Celebrities

K-Pop

K-drama

He appeared in the Korean remake of Suits, When the Camellia Blooms and To. Jenny while his besties from university acted in Vincenzo, Goblin and Hospital Playlist
Korean reality show I Live Alone showed his love of keeping fish, while on Hangout with Yoo he was picked for MSG Wannabe, a spoof band with real chart success


Set to appear in new K-drama Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, did studying at uni with Goblin’s Kim Go-eun, Hospital Playlist’s Ahn Eun-jin and Vincenzo’s Kim Seong-cheol set Lee up for sure-fire success?
