Squid Game‘s Lee Jung-jae’s Girlfriend Was Married to South Korea’s Richest Billionaire—Meet His Heiress Partner
Lee Jung-jae might be a cunning conman whose character was lucky to strike gold with the plentiful pot of the Squid Game prize money, but he’s also tied to a rich love life. The actor met the love of his life in 2015 and she’s very much related to South Korea’s elite.
Lee Jung-jae is one of South Korea’s most successful actors with his acting debut in An Affair in the late 90s and had a career resurgance starting the The Housemaid in 2010. Starring in many Korean films, he gained worldwide fame when he starred as Seong Gi-hun in Netflix’s Squid Game. Because of his charismatic characters he previously played, creator Hwang Dong-hyuk revealed to Hankook Ilbo that he wanted to cast him to thwart his image. “Lee Jung-jae always looks cool,” he said. “I had a wicked desire to ruin him. I also cast him because I wanted him to properly show the humanity that comes from his cool acting.”
Related: HoYeon Jung’s Last Boyfriend Dated Her For Nearly a Decade—Is She Seeing Anyone Now?
So who’s the lucky lady who’s been supporting him for years?
Who is Lee Jung-jae’s girlfriend?
Lim Sae-ryung (2015 – present)
Lee Jung-jae’s girlfriend is Lim Sae-ryung. She was appointed VP of Daesung Group, a conglomerate group. Coming from a chaebol family (chaebol meaning that the company runs through the family), she’s the eldest daughter of Im Chang-wook, Honorary Chairman of Daesang Group, and Park Hyun-joo, Vice Chairman of Daesang Holdings. According to The Korea Times, she joined the company in 2012 as a creative director for food business strategy and is currently the Vice Chairwoman. She graduated from New York University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.
Lim Sae-ryung was married to Lee Jae-yong, the current chairman of Samsung Electronics, from 1998 to 2009. They have two children together: a son Lee Ji-ho (born 2000) and a daughter Lee Won-joo (born 2004). Lee Jae-yong is currently the richest person in South Korea with a net worth of $11.5 billion according to Forbes.
Lim accompanied Lee Jung-jae to the 2022 Primetime Emmy Awards where he won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series—the first for a non-English role.
Kim Min-hee (2003 – 2006)
Lee Jung-jae was in a relationship with Kim Min-hee from 2003 to 2006. The two met while they were working on Pure Love Spectrum in 2000.
