Comedian Lee Jin-ho has been hospitalized after suffering a brain hemorrhage, according to his agency SM Culture & Contents on Thursday.

"Lee was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday afternoon after a sudden brain hemorrhage," it said in a press release. “He is regaining consciousness and focusing on treatment."


Lee has been on hiatus since last year after being caught on charges related to illegal gambling and drunk driving.

He was referred to prosecutors without detention in September on allegations of repeatedly participating in illegal online gambling. The investigation is ongoing.

He was also sent to prosecutors the same month on charges of drunk driving after driving about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Incheon to Yangpyeong County, Gyeonggi, while intoxicated.

Investigators found his blood alcohol level at the time exceeded 0.08 percent, the threshold for license revocation.

Lee debuted as a comedian on the broadcast channel SBS in 2005. He appeared in numerous comedy and variety television shows, such as the SBS comedy show, "People Looking for a Laugh" (2013-17) and the JTBC comedy variety show "Knowing Bros" (2015-).


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.
BY JEONG HYE-JEONG [lee.jiwon10@joongang.co.kr]