Actor Lee Sin-young celebrates before throwing a ceremonial pitch prior to the LG Twins' baseball game against the KT wiz on Sept. 11, 2025.NEWS1
An actor from the hit drama “Crash Landing on You” (2019-20) revealed on Thursday that he has enlisted in the military and has already completed his basic training without telling anyone.
Lee Sin-young posted a handwritten letter on Instagram on Thursday, apologizing to fans for the late notice.
A handwritten letter from actor Lee Sin-young, announcing his military enlistment, posted on his Instagram account on Aug. 6SCREEN CAPTURE
“I would like to say sorry for announcing the news a little late,” he wrote. “I thought long and hard from before I enlisted about how and when it would be best to tell you this, but while I was at the training center, I wanted to concentrate on my duties as a soldier […] so I could not let you know in advance.”
He also thanked those who had waited for him, despite his silence.
“I apologize to everyone who is startled by the sudden news, and it weighs on me that I seem to have kept you waiting,” he wrote. “I’m always grateful to all of you who support me.”
“I will stay healthy and diligent […] and come back,” he concluded.
Lee wrote that he had been formally discharged from basic training on Thursday. He did not mention when he enlisted or which branch he would serve.
Military service is mandatory for all able-bodied Korean men. Including the five weeks spent in basic training, conscripts serve 18 months in the Army and Marines, 20 in the Navy and 21 in the Air Force.
A conscript does not always serve in the same unit to which he reported for training. Instead, the Military Manpower Administration assigns him to a branch through a digital random draw.
Lee made his acting debut in the web drama “Just One Bite” (2018). He became widely known as Park Kwang-beom, one of the North Korean soldiers in tvN’s “Crash Landing on You,” and went on to appear in “Rookie Cops” (2022), “Dr. Romantic 3” (2023) and “Moon River” (2025).
BY HAN YOUNG-HYE [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
