The health rumors regarding the oldest active actor Lee Soon-jae surfaced again, but this was not true. Lee Soon-jae is currently struggling to move around and is focusing on rehabilitation.
Lee Soon-jae, born in 1935, debuted in 1956 through the drama 'I Want to Be Human.' He has starred in dramas such as 'Jirisan,' 'Ambition,' 'The Age of Heroes,' 'Hur Jun,' 'Sangdo,' 'Land,' 'Lee San,' 'High Kick Through the Roof,' 'Six Flying Dragons,' 'Money Flower,' and 'Red Sleeve Cuff,' as well as films like 'Mother,' 'Determination,' 'Good Morning, President,' 'Deok-gu,' 'Hello,' and 'Large Family.'
In particular, even at the age nearing 90 last year, Lee Soon-jae showed his vitality by appearing in KBS2's Wednesday-Thursday drama 'Barking Dog' and the play 'Waiting for Godot.' As a result, Lee Soon-jae won the grand prize at the '2024 KBS Acting Awards' through 'Barking Dog,' becoming the oldest recipient at the awards ceremony among the three broadcasting networks.
Although Lee Soon-jae, who was actively working, showed that age is just a number, he eventually experienced problems. During the filming of 'Barking Dog,' he had to temporarily halt the schedule due to declining health, and he also dropped out of the premiere of 'Waiting for Godot.' Nevertheless, he attended the '2024 KBS Acting Awards' ceremony, receiving a warm applause.
Since then, Lee Soon-jae has been focusing on rehabilitation. At the 37th Korean PD Awards held in April, Lee Soon-jae was named the winner of the acting category, but agency representative Lee Seung-hee accepted the award on his behalf. Lee Seung-hee noted, "The teacher is unable to attend due to some discomfort. He is somewhat unwell and needs a lot of encouragement and support. I would appreciate it if you could cheer for him once," and as confirmed by OSEN, Lee Soon-jae could not attend due to difficulties in moving.
At that time, a close associate of Lee Soon-jae told OSEN, "His health has improved a lot. However, he has some difficulty moving around," adding, "Given his age, he has lost strength in his legs and needs assistance from others, but he does not want to rely on others, which is why we proceeded with the award acceptance on his behalf."
Lee Soon-jae was mentioned again on the 19th while focusing on rehabilitation. During a press conference for the play 'Waiting for Godot' held at YES24 Stage in Jongno-gu, Seoul, Park Geun-hyung said, "I tried to visit several times, but he was reluctant, so I couldn't meet with him directly. I've been hearing about his condition through others, and it doesn't seem good," which brought the health rumors about Lee Soon-jae back to the surface.
As Lee Soon-jae nears 90 years of age, being the oldest active actor, and due to issues last year with his health that led to his withdrawal from projects, it is natural to be concerned about his health. In particular, Park Geun-hyung's comment that "it doesn't seem good" refocused attention on Lee Soon-jae's health.
As a result, OSEN confirmed that the health rumors regarding Lee Soon-jae were not true. A close associate of Lee Soon-jae explained to OSEN, "He has no health problems. It's just that he lacks strength in his legs, making it difficult for him to move, and since he is an actor, he likely doesn't want to show such a condition to the public, which is why he has declined hospital visits. There is absolutely no health concern." They plan to restrict hospital visits to only family until he completes rehabilitation.
Lee Soon-jae's side stated, "We are explaining this situation to those who come to visit him. Given his age, we believed it was better for him to rest, and since he had a health issue last year due to overexertion, he is currently focusing on rehabilitation because he lacks strength in his legs, but there is absolutely no health concern."
[OSEN]