Lee MinHo’s Childhood Story- Nearly Became A Lost Child

This is a continuation to my previous article on Lee Min Ho’s childhood where his mother narrates on the interesting events and little details about Lee Min Ho when he was young. Pretty interesting I think. This second part will have the timeline set at 5 to 9 years old and also contained Min Ho’s missing act when he was five. And by the way, are you able to spot young Lee Min Ho from the photo above?

(Description from Lee Min Ho’s mom)
Lee Min Ho ( 5 to 9 years old)

Min Ho loved to read the newspaper. He first started learning Hangul from the colourful advertisements printed on the newspapers.

Min Ho who was enthusiastic towards reading newspaper, cultivated a habit to read the commentary articles on the children newspaper and daily papers when he entered elementary school. He could do addition and subtraction very fast and had a very good memory. Even the multiplication table and Hanja didn’t trouble him at all.

During his lower elementary school stage, he was shy child that didn’t like to stand in front of everyone. Despite this, he enjoyed a high popularity and had acquainted many friends. Since kindergarten, Min Ho has been very popular among girls.

Compared to other children of the same age, Min Ho was always half a head taller than them. Even when placed beside children with fair features, Min Ho’s appearance was still very prominent and stood out among them. Whenever the season changes, the little girls who played with Min Ho will also change accordingly. There were even fights among them because some girls wanted to gain exclusiveness to Min Ho.

After learning Taekwondo, his body became muscular. Nobody in the school dared to pick a fight with him. Min Ho once harbor the aim to be a famous soccer player. He had played four years of soccer under coach Cha Bum Kun’s Youth soccer team. With this as a basis, Min Ho who was previously weaker gradually became a sports athlete. He also met a lot of new friends, which eventually shaped his positive attitude personality.

When he was five, Min Ho nearly became a lost child. Even till now, discussions on “whether little Min Ho is scared at that time”, are still a common topic among the family members. It was only a short moment before Min Ho roamed around the playground and eventually went missing. Luckily, there was a little tag on his wrist that wrote his house address and his name. The citizens around that area sent him back home. Till now, the incident still sends a shiver down my spine whenever I thought of it.

Lee MinHo’s Childhood Story Part 3 - School Life


This is the third part of Lee Min Ho’s childhood story which focuses on his 10 to 15 years old period. It talks about Lee Min Ho’s elementary and middle school period and his eventual step into the entertainment circle.

(Description from Lee Min Ho’s mum)
Lee Min Ho (10 to 15 years old)

After Min Ho entered elementary school, videos and computer games were his only focus. If I did not reprimand him, he would be thinking of playing games all day long. Min Ho’s dad played the kind role, while I had no choice but to be the strict mum.

Min Ho is thrifty. Although our family was not wealthy, we tried our best not to disappoint our children and gave them about 100 thousand won as pocket money each time. Min Ho didn’t spend every single cent away. Instead, he deposited them into his savings account. Due to his inward personality, he would sometimes give carnations during Parents’ Day and disappear immediately after saying “Mom, please wear it”.

After learning soccer from coach Cha Bum Kun, Min Ho’s physique improved all of a sudden. His sports (lesson) was often an “A”. His mathematics was also kept consistently above 90 marks. During his first and second year in the middle school, his height increased at an astounding rate. In fact, he isn’t much taller now compared to then.

During his elementary education, the thought of becoming an actor one day didn’t even crossed his mind but after he was promoted to the middle school, he was often approached by star scouts. Those managers would often say: “Please come to find me if you wish to be an artiste.” As such, Min Ho received a lot of name cards. In the beginning, we shrugged the idea off as we thought he did not have the qualities to be one.

However, as the number of such occurrences increased, Min Ho also started to go for auditions and meet some managers. When he returned home, he would put it simply: “Mom, I went for an audition today. It was very interesting.” His began to harbor the dream of becoming an actor.

During his middle and high school, he liked Sol Kyung Gu and Kim Soo Roh respectively and often mentioned that he wanted to become actors like them.

According to rumours, Kim Soo Roh gave his mother an apple crate full of 10000 won notes after he became famous. Min Ho then often said to us: “If I’m able to rise in popularity in the entertainment circle, I will give dad and mom an even more precious gift.”