Remembering Lee Eon through his youth
It was a sad day when Lee Eon, most known for his role in the drama Coffee Prince, died in a motorcycle accident last August. Now a book is being published posthumously, featuring Lee’s own writing and music, called Twenty-seven, Burying Youth. The model-turned-actor, born Park Sang-min, died at the age of 27.
Also, as February 5 is Lee’s birthday (born in 1981, he would have been 28), family and friends gathered to commemorate the day at a Kangnam café. Attendees included actors Lee Chun-hee (Good Sunday’s Chunderella), Joo Ji-hoon (Antique Bakery), his Coffee Prince co-star Kim Jae-wook, Koyote singer Bbaek Ga, and model Jang Yoon-ju.
Joo Ji-hoon, Jang Yoon-ju
Lee had often expressed himself through words and music during his lifetime, writing frequently and also working as a club DJ. His mother said, “We proposed this book first and made it with a grateful heart on behalf of all the fans and youths and for parents like me to cherish Sang-min’s memory. I hope this will be a warm story of youth that everyone can relate to.”
The book also contains contributions from fellow actors and models who write of their friendship with Lee, including Joo Ji-hoon (Antique Bakery), Kim Jae-wook and Yoon Eun-hye (Coffee Prince), Ryu Deok-hwan (Welcome to Dongmakgol), Yeh Hak-young (Like Father, Like Son), and Choi Ji-ho (Antique Bakery).
The volume goes on sale February 6.
Lee Chun-hee (above) said, “I came so I can think of Eon today on his birthday… I remember back when we both worked as models together, and played games while we waited backstage.”
Bbaek Ga said, “I worked on Lee Eon’s last photo project. I wanted to become better friends, but I’m sad we weren’t able to become closer.”
Fellow model-turned-actor Kim Jae-wook said, “The book isn’t for me to mourn hyung’s [Lee Eon's] life, but because it’s a book showing what he wrote, felt, and wanted to convey about his youth.”
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Tags: books, deaths, Jang Yoon-ju, Joo Ji-hoon, Kim Jae-wook, Lee Chun-hee, Lee Eon
Oh this is sad. I hadn’t realised he had died. I was just re-watching Coffee Prince the other day and was wondering what the stars were up to lately.
RIP Lee Eon
hullo dramabeans correct me if i’m wrong, but isn’t the guy on lee chun-hee’s right kim dong-wook, and not bbaek ga?
hullo dramabeans! correct me if i’m wrong, but isn’t the guy on lee chun-hee’s right kim dong-wook, and not bbaek ga? (:
In fact, his death was the beginning from so many others but it is the one which shocked me the most. The 1st shop of Coffee Prince is ma favourite drama and, at first, i was really really into Min Yeop, found him so cute and touching. Lee Eon was really sweet, with a great smile and looked shy and bright. I really cried a lot when he died and every 21 of the month, i always thing “he has died XX months ago”.
Anyway, he was far too young and I miss him so much, a good think his relatives and friends thought about him and of his fans. A good thing to share what Lee Un was doing.
RIP LEE EON, we miss you :’(
i still really miss him, still feel the tragedy and the lost of such a talented person! im glad that his book is being published and seeing his friends rally round to remember and support him i feel happy that at least we know Lee Eon had some great friends!! R.I.P
It’s definitely not Kim Dong-wook, but perhaps you meant Kim Jae-wook? You know, at first I thought it was Bbaek Ga, but now I think it may be Jae-wook. Curse those unidentified photos.
aw lee eon
Lee Eon seems like a gentle soul on and off screen. I just so happen to be watching Who Are You where he plays a strong, supportive and warm friend.
He will continue to live on in the dramas he made and in the hearts of his family, friends and fans.
ah, I was thinking about lee eon today. It was just by coincidence too, I did not know it was his birthday.
The book is a really nice idea. It’s sort of bittersweet in a way for his family and friends, to remember the good times.
I would buy it, but i can’t read korean.
ahh yes whoopss i meant to say kim jae-wook! had his name mixed up with ha-rim’s for a while.. sorry for the double comment as well!!
awwww…the warmth radiates through the world!
i’m happy they had a gathering to remember such a wonderful person like lee eon.
yah i knoe i learned about wat hapened last yr. i was like OMG! no way?!
still cant believe he’s gone though. i mis him.
Hope he is resting in peace… so sad…
RIP, he seemed such a beautiful person inside and out. what a nice tribute the book idea is, though the title is too sad. i hope yesasia carries it.
I’m gonna have to find this book. Even though I’m not proficient enough to read it, yet, I’m sure it’ll be a special book to have. I love Kim Jae-Wook, also, and would love to see what he has contributed in honor of his ‘hyung’.
No way!!!!!
I loved his character. This is so sad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i was rewatching coffee prince and every time i remembered that lee eon had passed i’d get suddenly depressed.
Javabeans, if you ever get a copy of the book, could you put some posts about it?
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Thanks for posting this…I don’t think I ever fully accepted his death, since it was such a shock because it happened when I had just gotten into CP.
It’s not explainable why one person easily comes to mind, while others do not.
I am definitely not a fan-girly type of person. And, I don’t go around thinking about people who have died.
But, every so often, Lee Eom will come to mind … for no particular reason. Perhaps, his gentle soul left more of an impression on me than I realized.
I wish him well … wherever he is.
I remember when he died I had just finished watching Coffee Prince for the fifth time ( I was showing my boy friend that’s why) then I saw the article I kind of just stared at it for a long time and then I cried. I don’t think I cried as a fan or him honestly I think I cried for his mom more.
I’m glad this book was made in his memory. He will always remain as Min Yub in my drama loving heart
I wrote a post on him to lessen my own sadness:
http://jeansdream.wordpress.com/2008/09/01/a-tribute-to-lee-eon-un/
Nothing can replace a lost son, but may this book bring consolations to Lee’s parents. I will definitely pick up this book if I see one.
I would like to read that book one day. Its seems like only yesterday when the news broke out of his untimely death. Thank you for sharing this.
But what about Gong Yoo? Did he contribute something to the book? coz they used to be like brothas from diff’rent mothas. *so sad*
Lee Eon is worth remembering!
sigh its still so sad.. im glad they did this. im sure lee eon’s writings/art works should be shared.. and it brings an even fonder memory and hope for the youth.
glad to know he had so many friends who remember him well and speak about him well as well. which is hard to come by. im sure they have good stuff to share in that book.
uhm, dramabeans, isn’t there a (sageuk) actor who’s also named Park Sang-min? (one of the sageuks he acted is “Yeoin Cheonha”)
I would hate to think that they’re the same person…
at 25, i don’t know if Gong Yoo knows about this…remember, he’s still in the Army
I remember..first saw him in Rain’s video clip ..i foget the title…it’s Rain…maybe…..RIP…Lee Eon ….
I know I’m late but Happy birthday to Lee Eon. We will always remember him.
Lee Eon was a talented guy, after watching him in Coffee Prince & Who Are You, i thought he was a great actor & had a bright future. he must have been an awesome person cause of all the people that cared for him. i wonder what kind of things he wrote about.
I know this was posted like 3 months ago, but I still want to say something- I’m in the middle of watching Coffee Prince and when ever I see him it makes me so sad. He’s so sweet in the drama, and I’m sure he was a wonderful person in real life. RIP
i have not been checking dramabeans for a long while after the coffee prince craze… it’s just this week that i checked it out again because of Boys Over Flowers, so i am shocked to learn that our adorable Min Yub was gone… i have just finished rereading javabeans’ recaps of coffee prince and i get the same wonderful feeling… i wasn’t even aware that Min Yub’s gone… so sad… also, so happens my son’s born feb 5 too … rip Lee Eon…
it’s been more than a year, already…
i’m watching coffee prince again…and seeing lee eon in that drama makes me very sad
rip lee eon..