"Elder Brother of Korean Figure Skating" Lee Jun-hyeong Holds Retirement Ceremony After Six Years: "Now I'm the Youngest Actor in Daehangno" [It’s Okay, Life Again]

[The Financial News] Eighteen years on the cold ice. There was a young man who fell and got back up tens of thousands of times, earning the nickname "the big brother of Korean men's figure skating." About ten years ago, he secured a spot for the 2018 Winter Olympics but never made it to the Olympic ice. This is the story of former national figure skater Lee Jun-hyeong (30). During the COVID-19 pandemic, he quietly took off his skates and retired without fanfare. On the 4th, however, he put on his competition costume again and stepped back onto the ice in front of spectators. It was a "late" retirement ceremony, held roughly six years after he had already begun the second act of his life on a small theater stage in Daehangno in 2021, rather than on the ice.


On the 4th, the KB Financial Group 80th National Figure Skating Championships and second national team selection event, which also served as a qualifier for the 2026 Winter Olympics Milano Cortina, took place at Mokdong Ice Rink in Yangcheon District, Seoul. In the men’s singles free skate held in the morning, Cha Jun-hwan of Seoul City Hall and Kim Hyun-gyeom of Korea University (KU) clinched their Olympic berths. In the women’s singles free skate in the afternoon, Sehwa Girls' High School’s Shin Ji-a and KU’s Lee Hae-in secured their tickets to the Games.
When all the competitions had finished and only the awards ceremony and gala remained, the stands were packed with figure skating fans focused on the newly minted Olympians. In that charged atmosphere, Lee Jun-hyeong tightened the laces of his skates with tense fingers. This was the moment he would officially say goodbye to his fans through a formal retirement ceremony. Skating his final gala program to Jeff Buckley’s "Hallelujah," he ended his performance with a change-foot sit spin, then dropped to his knees on the ice. Slowly bowing his body, he kissed the ice, bidding farewell to his long career as a competitive skater.

Like many other skaters, Lee Jun-hyeong practically grew up on the ice. He first stepped onto the rink following his mother, Oh Ji-youn, a former figure skater turned coach. He began training in earnest at the age of seven, lacing up his own skates. He became the first Korean male singles skater to qualify for the International Skating Union (ISU) Junior Grand Prix Final, and in 2017 he fought hard to earn a men’s singles quota spot for the 2018 Winter Olympics by winning a place at the Nebelhorn Trophy.
But after the 2019–2020 season, he disappeared from the ice. The 2020 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships turned out to be his final competition, after which he quietly took off his skates. With practice itself becoming difficult, he ultimately chose retirement when the pandemic prevented him from competing in what would have been his last season. Until the official ceremony held on this day, that had been the quiet end of "figure skater" Lee Jun-hyeong."I think it was a feeling I can’t really put into words. It wasn’t exactly sadness, but there was some regret, and all the moments I’d spent on skates over so many years flashed through my mind. I also thought a lot about the time I skated here in Mokdong at the national trials for the 2018 Winter Olympics. Above all, I just felt grateful, and I realized I’d never once actually said thank you to the ice. That’s why I did what I did at the retirement ceremony."After he finished his schedule that day, the reporter met Lee Jun-hyeong in Mokdong. He laughed and said, "I was a bit nervous, and I must have prepared too hard because I got a slight cramp in my leg while I was skating." He has continued to skate regularly since retiring, and once the retirement ceremony was set, he practiced one to two hours a day after work to get ready. (He is currently serving his mandatory military duty as a social service worker.) Even so, he admitted he could not perform at his peak competitive level anymore, which only made him more nervous. Naturally, his pride as a former figure skater was on the line. So he refused to remove jumps from his gala program and landed a clean double Axel, drawing loud applause."I don’t think I was better than others or particularly gifted in any way. I just skated because I enjoyed it and loved it. Looking back, I think I was always happy and had fun. Of course, there were moments of frustration along the way, but in the end, I skated because I loved it."Considering the many titles and accolades that once preceded his name, his self-assessment sounds almost too modest. Yet Lee Jun-hyeong did not hesitate to sum up a long career full of memories with a single word: love—for skating.

After retiring, he chose the path of musical theater. During the pandemic, Lee Jun-hyeong auditioned repeatedly and was turned down just as often. Then, in 2021, he finally made his stage debut in the musical La Révolution. A man who had expressed himself with his body his whole life was now pouring out emotions through his voice and acting as an actor. So why, of all things, did he choose musicals?Why musicals, specifically?He recalled, "It felt like someone was guiding me, and I just flowed into it naturally, like water.""I don’t think there was any special reason. I loved musicals almost as much as I loved skating. Ever since I was young, I would sing musical numbers to myself all the time, and those moments piled up until I thought, ‘I have to give this a try.’"
When he debuted as a musical actor, he adopted the stage name "Lee Jun-woo" to mark a fresh start. It was a declaration that he would not lean on his past glory but begin again from the bottom. However, reality was harsh once he took off the "national team" badge. On the ice, he had only himself to prepare and hold accountable, but the stage was different. For someone used to an individual sport, learning to breathe and move in sync with others was an unfamiliar challenge."Because it’s not something I can do alone, I struggled with that at first. Looking back now, I think in the beginning I practiced, delivered lines, and sang in a very mechanical way, like I did when I was training as an athlete. As I gained more experience after my debut, I learned to interact, to really look at my scene partners, and to move forward together. That’s how I grew. Acting on stage is incredibly fun. There are similarities with figure skating because you also perform there, and now I want to express my emotions even better."Now he is in his sixth year as a musical actor. Although his military service has created a brief break in his career, he is scheduled to return to the stage in a new production after he is discharged in April. Asked what he would like to say to people who are struggling with career choices, he paused to think."To be honest, I’ve been failing auditions even recently. But I believe those experiences help me grow. They make me think, ‘I need to do better, I need to keep challenging myself,’ rather than feel defeated. So if you are sure about something you want to try—if you have that feeling of ‘I have to do this, no matter what’—then I think you should follow your heart. Isn’t it better to try and regret it than to regret never having tried?"
As mentioned earlier, Lee Jun-hyeong is currently serving in the military. For someone who had only just begun to establish himself as a musical actor, such a break could easily feel unsettling. Yet he welcomed this short pause, saying it had become a time for reflection, a chance to step back and look at himself."Until now, I think I’d only ever run straight ahead. But after stepping away for a bit, I started rewatching videos of my past performances and going to see many other shows. That made me realize, ‘This is my time to study.’ It’s been really helpful because I can think about what I lacked and what my goals should be going forward."Now it is truly time to let go of figure skater Lee Jun-hyeong and welcome actor Lee Jun-woo. First, he offered a few words to his former self as a skater: "You worked hard." "Because it was a sport I truly loved, I have no regrets. I hope people could see that I really loved skating," he said. "So rather than saying ‘You did great,’ I want to tell myself, ‘You worked hard.’"
And to Lee Jun-woo, the actor who will soon return to the stage, he left the words, "Let’s do well." "As an actor, I’m only just beginning, so I want to walk this path all the way to the end," Lee Jun-hyeong said. "Being on stage is truly fun, and that makes me want to do even better. I want to be remembered as an actor who always gives his best in every single performance."

bng@fnnews.com Kim Hee-sun Reporter