South Korea’s ‘brilliant son’ Lee Seung-gi on overcoming challenges: ‘Nothing else to do but keep doing’

Lee Seung-gi is transformed. When I spoke to him four years ago, he’d just completed an important rite of passage for South Korean men: A nearly two-year enlistment in the army. And despite having a lineup of projects already waiting for him, he’d been worried about his fanbase. 

“I want to ask them what exactly it is that they like about me, because I’d like them to stand by me the way they have all this time,” he’d said, dressed simply in a chequered shirt, sleeves casually rolled up and his hair in a boyish French crop. 

He’d also been thoughtful about his future, having just entered his 30s. 

On Thursday (Jun 14) afternoon, hours before the Singapore leg of his Asia concert tour at the Resorts World Ballroom, it seemed like a different Lee Seung-gi that sat before me. 

Dressed in all-black, hair voluminous and sitting up taller than I’d seen him do, the 36-year-old appeared emboldened. 

And it was no wonder. 

Mere months after a payment dispute with his previous management agency that shook not just Lee but the whole industry, Lee had successfully established his own company, Human Made, which currently manages just one man: Himself. 

He’d also recently married – his wife, 30-year-old South Korean actress Lee Da-in, is often referred to as “ulzzang” or “exceptionally good-looking”. 

But as we went on, it was clear something had not changed: His principles. 

In the industry, Lee is sometimes regarded as the “brilliant son”, someone a relative would regularly boast about to their neighbours, particularly as his down-to-earth nature persisted despite him having made his debut in 2004.