The year he turned 19, he made his acting debut in the EBS youth drama Secret Campus. In 2007 he appeared in SBS’s Mackerel Run. In 2008 he was in the MBC youth special drama Get Up, and Edaily reported it was his sixth high school student role in a row.
The breakthrough yearThe year he turned 22, he played Gu Jun-pyo, the heir to a conglomerate, in KBS2’s Boys Over Flowers. Money Today wrote that he rose to stardom overnight in this role after starting out as an unknown newcomer. At the end of that year he won Best New Actor at the KBS Drama Awards.
In 2010 he starred with Son Ye-jin in MBC’s Personal Taste and won the Excellence Award for an Actor at the MBC Drama Awards that December. In 2011 he played Lee Yoon-sung in SBS’s City Hunter and won the Top Excellence Award at the SBS Drama Awards that December. In 2012 he appeared in SBS’s Faith as Choi Young, a warrior of the Goryeo dynasty.
The year he turned 26, he released the commemorative album My Everything in May, and The Heirs began in October. Its final episode drew 25.6%. In January 2014 he became the first Korean actor to appear on China’s Spring Festival Gala, Newsis reports, and in November he received the Prime Minister’s Commendation.
In 2015 the film Gangnam Blues opened, and in November he won Best New Actor at the Grand Bell Awards. In 2016 he played a lead role opposite Jun Ji-hyun in The Legend of the Blue Sea and won the Top Excellence Award for an Actor at the SBS Drama Awards that December.
The year he turned 30, he began serving as a social service agent at the Gangnam District Office in Seoul in May. In March 2018 he received four weeks of training at the Nonsan Army Training Center. He was discharged from service on April 25, 2019. In 2020 he played Lee Gon in SBS’s The King: Eternal Monarch.
In 2022 he appeared as Koh Hansu in Apple TV+’s Pachinko, and in September his agency announced reports that he ranked No. 1 in buzz at Milan Fashion Week. In March 2023 his agency said he ranked first as the favorite Korean actor in the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s overseas Hallyu survey. In 2024 Pachinko season 2 was released two years after the first.
In 2025 he appeared in tvN’s When the Stars Gossip and in the film Omniscient Reader: The Prophecy. In March 2026 he was reported to have ranked first as the Korean actor overseas fans prefer most in the 2026 Overseas Hallyu Survey.
Lee Min-ho (born Jun 22, 1987) debuted in 2006, the year he turned 19, in the EBS drama Secret Campus, and became known on Jan 5, 2009, the year he turned 22, as Gu Jun-pyo in KBS2’s Boys Over Flowers. He began serving as a social service agent in 2017, the year he turned 30, and was discharged in 2019, the year he turned 32.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.
Made his acting debut in this drama.
Source 01 · Money Today (Korean) · What it takes to be an overnight star: chaebol roles · opens in a new tabSource 02 · Edaily (Korean) · Six high school roles in a row · opens in a new tab The broadcast date is not confirmed.Played a lead role, with Moon Chae-won and others, in a drama set in a high school.
Source 03 · MyDaily (Korean) · Mackerel Run put on hold · opens in a new tabSource 02 · Edaily (Korean) · Six high school roles in a row · opens in a new tab MyDaily reports that the first broadcast was put on hold in early May 2007 after a dispute with the outside production company. The first broadcast date is not confirmed.Edaily reported that this was his sixth high school student role in a row.
Source 02 · Edaily (Korean) · Six high school roles in a row · opens in a new tabPlayed Gu Jun-pyo, the heir to a conglomerate. The first episode drew a 14.3% rating by TNS Media Korea. Money Today wrote that he rose to stardom overnight in this role after starting out as an unknown newcomer.
The final episode drew 34.8% by TNS Media Korea. It ended three months after it began on Jan. 5.
Source 07 · Edaily (Korean) · Boys Over Flowers final episode · opens in a new tab Ratings were reported differently depending on the research company.Won for Boys Over Flowers. He also won the Best Couple Award with his co-star Goo Hye-sun.
Source 08 · TV Daily (Korean) · 2009 KBS Drama Awards · opens in a new tabSource 09 · Newsis (Korean) · 2009 KBS Drama Awards · opens in a new tabA Wednesday–Thursday drama in which he starred with Son Ye-jin. The first episode drew 12.5% by AGB Nielsen, and the series averaged 11.7% through its May 20 finale.
Source 10 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Personal Taste ends · opens in a new tabShared the Excellence Award for an Actor with Park Si-hoo for Personal Taste.
Source 11 · Star News (Korean) · 2010 MBC Drama Awards Excellence Award for an Actor · opens in a new tabPlayed Lee Yoon-sung. The first episode drew a nationwide 10.5% by AGB Nielsen Media Research.
Source 12 · Maeil Business Newspaper (Korean) · City Hunter ratings · opens in a new tabShared the award with Ji Sung for City Hunter. He also won the Top 10 Stars Award and the Netizen Popularity Award.
Source 13 · Star News (Korean) · 2011 SBS Drama Awards · opens in a new tabAppeared with Kim Hee-sun, playing Choi Young, a warrior of the Goryeo dynasty.
Source 14 · Maeil Business Newspaper (Korean) · Faith and Kim Hee-sun · opens in a new tabReleased a commemorative album for fans. On the 25th he held the Global Tour in Seoul concert at the Peace Palace of Kyung Hee University in Seoul, and Yonhap reports an audience of about 4,000.
Source 15 · SBS Entertainment News (Korean) · Lee Min-ho releases album · opens in a new tabSource 16 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Lee Min-ho Global Tour in Seoul · opens in a new tabAppeared with Park Shin-hye. The first episode drew 11.6% by Nielsen Korea.
Source 17 · Edaily (Korean) · The Heirs first episode · opens in a new tabThe final episode drew a nationwide 25.6% by Nielsen Korea, the drama’s own best.
Source 18 · Sports Chosun (Korean) · The Heirs ends · opens in a new tabNewsis reports he was the first Korean actor to appear on the special program China broadcasts for the Lunar New Year. He sang the theme song of Meteor Garden, the Taiwanese version of Boys Over Flowers, with the original singer.
Source 19 · Sports Chosun (Korean) · Appearance on the Spring Festival Gala · opens in a new tabSource 20 · Newsis (Korean) · Appearance on the Spring Festival Gala · opens in a new tabReceived the Prime Minister’s Commendation at the 2014 Korean Popular Culture and Arts Awards.
Source 21 · Sports Chosun (Korean) · Prime Minister’s Commendation at the Korean Popular Culture and Arts Awards · opens in a new tabA film directed by Yoo Ha. OSEN reported cumulative admissions of 1,365,517 nine days after release.
Source 22 · Newsis (Korean) · Box office · opens in a new tabSource 23 · OSEN (Korean) · Gangnam Blues, nine days after release · opens in a new tabWon for Gangnam Blues.
Source 24 · Sports Kyunghyang (Korean) · Grand Bell Awards new actor and actress · opens in a new tabPlayed a lead role with Jun Ji-hyun. Yonhap reports a first-episode rating of 16.4%.
Source 25 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · The Legend of the Blue Sea director’s cut · opens in a new tabShared the award with Kim Rae-won for The Legend of the Blue Sea. He also won the Best Couple Award and the Top 10 Stars Award.
Source 26 · News1 (Korean) · 2016 SBS Drama Awards · opens in a new tabBegan his alternative military service as a social service agent at the Gangnam District Office in Seoul. MyDaily reports he was classed as Grade 4 supplementary service because of an injury from a 2006 traffic accident.
Source 27 · Global Economic (Korean) · Lee Min-ho enlists · opens in a new tabSource 28 · MyDaily (Korean) · First-half roundup of military stories · opens in a new tabUnder the serve-first system, he received four weeks of training after serving since May 2017.
Source 29 · Newsis (Korean) · Enters Nonsan training center · opens in a new tabFinished about two years of service at the Suseo Social Welfare Center in Seoul.
Source 30 · Newsis (Korean) · Discharge from service · opens in a new tabPlayed Lee Gon in the Friday–Saturday drama written by Kim Eun-sook.
Source 31 · Star News (Korean) · The King: Eternal Monarch OST · opens in a new tabAppeared as Koh Hansu. The series adapts the novel by the Korean American author Min Jin Lee.
Source 32 · News1 (Korean) · Pachinko · opens in a new tabHis agency said Italian media reported him No. 1 in buzz at the 2022 Milan Fashion Week. The result was based on Talkwalker’s online and social media data.
Source 33 · TenAsia (Korean) · Milan Fashion Week buzz · opens in a new tabHis agency said he ranked first in the 2023 overseas Hallyu survey (covering 2022), announced by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
Source 34 · JTBC (Korean) · No. 1 in overseas Hallyu survey · opens in a new tab The date is March 10, as given in the article. Articles differ on how many years in a row he has ranked first, so that count is not used.Appeared again after season 1, which was released two years earlier.
Source 35 · News1 (Korean) · Pachinko season 2 · opens in a new tabSource 36 · Maeil Business Newspaper (Korean) · Pachinko 2 interview · opens in a new tabA 16-episode Saturday–Sunday drama in which he appeared with Gong Hyo-jin.
Source 37 · The Fact (Korean) · When the Stars Gossip global rankings · opens in a new tabThe film opened at No. 1 at the box office on its first day, and The Fact reports cumulative admissions of 627,892 through the first weekend.
Source 38 · The Fact (Korean) · Omniscient Reader first weekend · opens in a new tabMaeil Business Newspaper reports he ranked first as the Korean actor overseas fans prefer most in the 2026 Overseas Hallyu Survey, announced by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
Source 39 · Star Today (Maeil Business Newspaper, Korean) · No. 1 in the overseas Hallyu survey · opens in a new tab The announcement date is not confirmed. The article is dated March 31.END OF SELECTED RECORDSSelected records, 2006–2026 · not a complete list of work. “Key moment” is an editorial label, not a measure of success.
What did they do, and at what age?
AgeTrail lines up the key moments of a life by age.
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Film & TV · South Korea
Jun 22, 1987 —
Ages are counted from the birth year 1987: the year of the event minus 1987, birthdays aside. “Key moment” labels and the connecting story are AgeTrail's editorial reading.
Fact-checked: 2026.10.03 · An independent archive, not affiliated with the person or their agency.