Lee Junho (also known as Junho) is a member of K-pop boy group 2PM, as well as an actor recognized for famous works such as “King the Land”, “The Red Sleeve”, “Good Manager”, and more.
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Junho’s Biography
- Birth Name: Lee Jun-ho (이준호)
- Stage Name: Junho (준호)
- Date of Birth: January 25, 1990
- Place of Birth: Baekseok-dong, Ilsandong -gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do
- Zodiac Sign: Aquarious
- Nationality: Korean
- Religion: Protestant
- Height: 178 cm (5.83 ft)
- Instagram: @le2jh (Personal), @post_leejunho (Official)
Lee Junho’s family consists of his parents and an older sister named Lee Min-hye (born in 1986). He has a bachelor’s degree in Acting at Howon University College of Arts and a master’s degree in Film Arts at Sejong University Graduate School
Junho’s Career
Pre-debut
Prior to his debut, Junho gained public attention for winning the 2006 TV show “Superstar Survival”, placing 1st among 6,5000 thousand competitors – which also include fellow 2PM members Ok Taecyeon and Chansung. He then signed a contract with JYP Entertainment upon winning the show.
In 2008, he participated in the Mnet show “Hot Blood Men”, which features the training progress of 13 trainees with the aim to debut a boy band named “One Day”. This eventually leads to the formation of 2 separate boy groups under JYP – 2AM and 2PM.
Debut with 2PM
On August 29, 2008, Junho officially debuted with 2PM as the boy group released their single album “Hottest Time of the Day”, including the title “10 Out of 10”. The group then performed live for the 1st time on music show “M Countdown” on September 4, 2008.
2PM, known for their beastly and sexy image, quickly drew attention from the public, propeling Junho’s popularity as an idol.
Solo activities
Junho’s 1st venture as a soloist was via the release of the Japanese solo ep “Kimi no Koe” in 2013. He is known to have produced, composed, and wrote lyrics for all the tracks on the EP. He then embraked on his solo tour “Junho 1st Solo Tour Kimi no Koe, in August of the same year. Junho later released his 1st Korean solo compilation album “One” in 2015, and has been consistently dropping solo releases in Korean and Japan ever since.
Acting Career
Junho made his acting debut in the action film “Cold Eyes”, which was release in 2013. He then appeared on the small screen with a feature in the 2015 period K-drama “Memories of the Sword”.
Ever since, Junho has gained praise and immense recognitiion for various successful acting projects, including “Good Manager”, “Confession”, “The Red Sleeve”, “King the Land”, and many more. In 2024, he was cased as the lead in the Netflix superhero series “Cashero” (tentative title), and he is alsoset to star in the tvN drama “Typhoon Company” (tentative title).
Facts about Junho
- He surpassed 6500 competitors to win 1st place on SBS’s show “Superstar Survival” in 2006. At that time, Junho was nicknamed “Little Rain” because he resembled much of Bi Rain. After that, he debuted together with Taecyeon and Chansung, whom he met at the survival show under JYP Entertainment.
- When he was young, he loved reading hip-hop comic books and was active as a B-Boy. However, he didn’t ignore his study and was smart enough to be in the TOP 40 in school.
- Junho appeared in many activities of the Department of Theater at his high school. Thanks to his basic acting skills, despite having been an idol for a long time, Junho was cast and made his first screen debut through the 2013 film “Cold Eyes”, playing the role of Detective Daramjwi (“Squirrel”).
- In an interview with TenAsia, “Cold Eyes” director Cho Eui-seok selected Junho as the most interesting actor among the cast members. In addition, actors Seol Kyung-gu, Jung Woo-sung, and Han Hyo-joo, who acted together with Junho in the movie, also complimented him, saying, “Let’s meet each other more frequently on the screen”.
- He made his solo debut with the song “Kimi no Koe (Your Voice) and turned to doing activities in Japan in the same year. After then, Junho performed solo stages in Japan every year before enlisting in the military in 2018. He showed off his capabilities as a producer by not only participating in lyrics writing and composing songs but also monitoring the music videos filming and creating choreography.
- Junho was injured a lot during 2PM activities because many of their choreographies included acrobatic moves. Even before his debut, Junho once fainted after landing on his head while doing backflips.
- Junho’s hand length is 22cm, which is the largest among 2PM members. He’s left-handed but writes with his right hands.
- Playing the main character Lee Kang-doo in JTBC’s 2017 drama “Just Between Lovers”, Junho even rented a rooftop room in Busan even before the drama filming. This was his effort to become more immersed in the character, and this story once became a hot topic.
- After appearing in KBS2’s drama “Good Manager” with Nam Goong-min, he received the Best Couple Award at the 2017 KBS Drama Awards. Junho was then nominated for the Daesang at the 2021 MBC Drama Awards. When Nam Goong-min was announced to be the Daesang winner, Junho ran to Nam Goong-min and hugged him.
- Junho is also known to add many adlibs during the filming of “The Red Sleeve”. If you watch the making videos and interviews about “The Red Sleeve”, he revealed that he added many adlibs and even made actor Oh Dae-hwan laugh hard.
- Appearing on “Radio Star”, Lee Junho promised that if the rating of “The Red Sleeve” exceeded 15%, he would appear on the show again with actress Lee Se-young, who plays Seong Deok-im, and dance to the song “My House”. The final episode of “The Red Sleeve” later recorded 17.4%, and the schedule for “Radio Star” has been arranged.
- In 2021, he was selected in the TOP 100 Korean male actors by the Korean Film Council. It is known that the list was chosen based on participation in Korean film box office hits and award-winning experiences over the past decade.
- He appeared on SBS’s “Strong Heart” in 2010 and quote the saying, “Popularity is a season”. It was his motto which means he would just relax and carry out activities gradually to wait for his season. His word was confirmed once again when the video of “My House” recently became popular again.
- If you look at Junho’s Instagram, cats appeared in most of the pictures. In particular, the one named “Gomaengi” living in Junho’s sister’s house and the one named “Jeonggami” living with 2PM Chansung are brother and sister.
- Junho has a hobby of collecting clothes he likes by colors. His mother even asked him to stop buying the same clothes of different colors.
- Junho, who is known to have a weak drinking ability, said in an interview with Esquire, “I’m not that crazily weak”. However, in another interview, he revealed that he didn’t drink too much because his face might get swollen.
- Junho has quite a few nicknames. In addition to “My House” Junho, he is also named “Maeng” because of his attractive hips, “Ijsan”, which is a shortened word for “The Red Sleeve” Yi San + Lee Jun-ho, etc. In fact, his favorite nickname is “FOX”.
Junho’s Issues
In the past, Junho has disclosed his struggles with obsessive fans, revealing that some people would come to his house and ring his doorbell at 3 AM. He even arrived home to see his door open and somebody in the house.
Most recently, Junho suffered from a case of sexual harassment during the São Paulo, Brazil stop off hiss fan-con tour “Midnight Sun”. In particular, during a segment of the show, a fan wrapped their arms around his neck, pulled him down, and kissed him on the cheeks, without asking for Junho’s consent. The fan’s actions have sparked huge criticisms among fellow fans.
