Lee Sung-min

Lee Sung-min, born on December 4, 1968, is a South Korean actor recognized for character roles in television and cinema. He was born in Bonghwa County, North Gyeongsang Province, and attended Daegu University as an undergraduate. Before becoming widely familiar on screen, he worked in Daegu's theater scene. His early television appearances included smaller parts, but his later work established him as a dependable ensemble performer. He has played managers, officials, soldiers, fathers, and morally compromised authority figures, often giving restrained performances to characters under social or political pressure. This range has made him a recurring presence in major Korean productions.

A decisive television breakthrough came with the 2014 cable drama Misaeng, adapted from Yoon Tae ho's webtoon. Lee played Oh Sang sik, the stern sales manager who becomes mentor to Jang Geu rae, an inexperienced contract employee portrayed by Im Si wan. Set inside a trading company, the series follows office hierarchies, competition, and precarious employment. Lee's Oh is not presented as a simple savior: he is frustrated by corporate structures and carries his own disappointments. The role helped make Misaeng one of the most discussed Korean cable dramas of its period and brought Lee the Grand Prize at the 2015 Korea Drama Awards.

He later played Jeong Sang ho, the Army Chief of Staff, in Kim Sung su's 2023 historical political film 12.12: The Day. The story dramatizes the military coup of December 12, 1979, after President Park Chung hee's assassination. In the film, Jeong tries to preserve the established chain of command while Chun Doo gwang moves against it. Lee's performance as the pressured commander was part of an ensemble headed by Hwang Jung min and Jung Woo sung. Earlier, he won the Best Supporting Actor award at the 39th Blue Dragon Film Awards for The Spy Gone North, a 2018 espionage drama directed by Yoon Jong bin.

In 2022, Lee reached another large television audience in Reborn Rich, a fantasy revenge drama based on San Kyeong's web novel The Youngest Son of a Conglomerate. He portrayed Jin Yang chul, the founder and chairman of the fictional Soonyang Group. Song Joong ki played Yoon Hyun woo, a loyal Soonyang employee who is killed and awakens in 1987 in the body of Jin Do joon, the family's youngest grandson. The series uses its chaebol family conflict and time shift to connect personal revenge with South Korea's economic and political changes. Lee received the Grand Prize at the 2022 APAN Star Awards for this performance.