Lee Eung-bok

Lee Eung-bok (Korean: 이응복; born 1972) is a South Korean television director. His first work was Hometown of Legends – Forbidden Books for the KBS in 2009. He is also known for directing other popular shows such as School 2013 (2012), Secret Love (2013), and Descendants of the Sun (2016). After joining Studio Dragon, he continued his director career with works like Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (2016–17) and Mr. Sunshine (2018). In 2020, Lee directed his first Netflix original series, Sweet Home, which is based on the Naver webtoon of the same name by Kim Carnby and Hwang Young-chan. The series received positive reception, and a second season was released in 2023.

In 2001, Lee started his career in television after passing the 28th PD Public Recruitment at KBS and started working in Drama Department.

In 2002, a book titled "PD Who and How" was being compiled. It served as an introductory guide to the PD profession and was jointly written by 27 PDs from the three broadcasting companies, along with an outsourced production company. KBS PD Lee Eung-bok contributed a chapter titled "Broadcasting company recruitment trends and industry trends in the broadcasting industry" to the book.

In 2009, Lee made his debut as director in KBS2's Monday-Tuesday drama Hometown of Legends - Forbidden Books written by Bang Ji-young. The story depicts a cursed banned book that summons ghosts, and contains the extreme maternal love of Hyeon-deok (played by Kim Seong-eun) to save her son who read the banned book, and the secrets of Jeong-hee (played by Yoon Hee-seok) involved in the banned book.

In 2010, Lee teamed up with director Jeon Woo-seong to direct The Reputable Family (Myeongga), written by Baek Young-sook and Yoon Young-soo. It was the first KBS historical drama to be restored from KBS2 to KBS1. It was also noteworthy as Cha In-pyo's first attempt at a historical drama since his debut. The drama aimed to make us think about the true value of wealth by introducing the anecdote of the richest family in Gyeongju, Korea's representative prestigious family that practiced the spirit of noblesse oblige.

In the same year, Lee teamed up with writer Yoon Ji-hee for KBS 2TV Drama Special Episode 7 The Great Gye Chun-bin. It is a romantic comedy melodrama that revolves around kindergarten teacher Gye Chun-bin (Jung Yu-mi) and art therapist Wang Ki-nam (Jung Kyung-ho). Jung Kyung-ho appears in his first one-act play since his joined KBS in 2003.

A year prior, in January 2009, media outlets reported that Bae Yong-joon, hallyu actor and chairman of KeyEast, would collaborate with Park Jin-young's entertainment company JYP to co-produce a television drama. They established a joint venture called Holym, a television drama production company. In April 2010, CJ Media joined the production team by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Holym. Bae served as the creative producer of the drama, contributing to the overall concept, goals, and ideas, while Park composed the music and choreographed the dance for the series.

Towards the end of 2010, it was announced that the screenplay was written by Park Hye-ryun, and the series was directed by Lee Eung-bok and Kim Seong-yoon. Bae Yong-joon also appeared in the drama, starring in four episodes, which marked his return to the small screen after a three years. Additionally, Park Jin-young made his acting debut in the series. The main cast included Ok Taec-yeon and Jang Wooyoung from the group 2PM, Bae Suzy from Miss A, Hahm Eun-jung from T-ara, singer IU, and Kim Soo-hyun. Kim Soo-hyun was the only non-idol among the cast, but he studied music and dance at JYP Entertainment for three months in order to portray his role.

In 2012, Lee co-directed School 2013, the fifth installment of KBS's School series, alongside Lee Min-hong. The drama, written by Lee Hyun-joo and Go Jung-won, garnered double-digit viewership ratings and was well received by young viewers. It also gained popularity overseas, contributing to increased recognition for its cast members, including Kim Woo-bin and Lee Jong-suk.

Since October 2012, while still working on School 2013, Lee already set his new project, Secret Love, Choi Ho-cheol's award-winning script from the KBS Miniseries Script Contest in 2012. Lee was impressed by the story and had been preparing for nearly a year, holding frequent meetings with Choi Ho-cheol. Chief Producer Hwang Ui-kyung recommended writer Yoo Bo-ra to join the project. The roles were well-defined, with writer Yoo Bo-ra responsible for infusing the emotional and feminine elements, while writer Choi Ho-cheol handled the mystery and thriller aspects.

Secret Love starred Hwang Jung-eum, Ji Sung, Bae Soo-bin, and Lee Da-hee in the lead roles. The 16-episode series aired on KBS2 from September 25 to November 14, 2013, with episodes broadcast on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:55. Secret Love garnered positive reviews consistently for its well-structured portrayal of a passionate melodrama involving four individuals intertwined with revenge and desire. It secured the top position among Wednesday-Thursday dramas, achieving a viewership rating of 16%. With two rookie writers, it successfully held its ground in direct competition with SBS drama by star writer Kim Eun-sook's The Heirs.

The success of Secret Love was attributed to the combined talents of promising new writers and the planning skills of the production team. Hwang Eui-kyung, the Chief Producer of the KBS drama department, acknowledged that broadcasting companies traditionally hesitated to hire new writers for mini-series, due to the financial implications and higher risk. However, in this case, they took a chance on a new writer who had demonstrated their capabilities in one-act plays and internal planning. This decision held significance as it was a project that yielded positive results.

In 2015, Lee took on the role of director for Descendants of the Sun. This drama stood out from most Korean dramas as it was fully pre-produced before its airing, deviating from the typical live-shoot production format. One of the reasons for this decision was due to China's government drama preliminary review. Producer Lee Eung-bok was initially drawn to Descendants of the Sun when he was still experiencing anger and frustration following the Sewol Ferry disaster, finding solace in the story. Kim Eun-sook and Kim Won-seok penned the script, which was adapted from Kim Won-seok's award-winning script "Doctors Without Borders." The drama features a star-studded cast including Song Joong-ki, Song Hye-kyo, Jin Goo, and Kim Ji-won.

This drama also incorporated overseas filming. Since Lee had limited experience shooting abroad, he enlisted the help of director Kang Myeong-chan and Kim Dong-sik, who had previously worked as a coordinator during the filming of the Korean portion of the movie Avengers. On September 28, 2015, the entire cast and crew, including the four main leads and supporting actors Kang Shin-il and Onew, embarked on a trip to Greece. It was reported that the majority of the filming took place in Zakynthos, Arachova, Lemnos, and Navagio. Although the drama's setting was inspired by Iraq, the decision was made to situate the war-torn area in a remote part of the Balkan Peninsula to avoid potential diplomatic conflicts with Iraq.

The Mowuru Company's base camp was situated at the depleted Taebaek Hanbo Coal Mine, while most of the earthquake scenes were filmed at the Samtan Art Mine. Additionally, filming occurred at the Camp Greaves DMZ Experience Centre, which was formerly a US Army base camp during the Korean War. The scenes set at Haesung Hospital were actually filmed at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital.

From February 24 to April 14, 2016, the drama aired on KBS2, spanning 16 episodes. Subsequently, KBS broadcast three special episodes from April 20 to April 22, 2016. These special episodes showcased highlights and memorable scenes from the series, provided insights into the drama's production process, featured behind-the-scenes footage, included commentaries from the cast members, and concluded with a final epilogue. The series achieved success in South Korea, reaching a peak audience share of 38.8%. It garnered numerous accolades, including the prestigious Grand Prize in television at the 52nd Baeksang Arts Awards. Additionally, it was recognized as the Most Popular Show of the year by the Korea Broadcasting Advertising Corporation. In March 2017, at the 29th Korea PD Awards, KBS's Descendant of the Sun (Lee Eung-bok, Baek Sang-hoon) received the Best TV Drama Award.

Lee left KBS in August 2016 and moved to CJ ENM Entertainment Division.

Following Lee's move to CJ ENM he joined forces once again with Kim Eun-sook for tvN's Friday-Saturday drama Guardian: The Lonely and Great God. The series revolves around the tale of a goblin and a girl who has the ability to see ghosts. Remarkably, the drama surpassed the 10% viewership mark within just two episodes. It commenced with a rating of 6.9% and increased to 8.3% in the second episode.

Followed Mr. Sunshine (2018).

Television series

Web series

Awards and nominations

State honors