| Lee Ho-jae | |
| Birth Date: | 14 October 2000 |
| Birth Place: | South Korea |
| Height: | 1.92 m |
| Currentclub: | Pohang Steelers |
| Clubnumber: | 33 |
| Position: | Forward |
| Youthyears1: | –2015 |
| Youthclubs1: | Onehunga Sports |
| Youthyears2: | 2016–2018 |
| Youthclubs2: | Incheon United |
| Youthyears3: | 2018–2020 |
| Youthclubs3: | Korea University |
| Years1: | 2021– |
| Clubs1: | Pohang Steelers |
| Caps1: | 79 |
| Goals1: | 17 |
| Club-Update: | 17 April 2023 |
| Hangul: | 이호재 |
| Hanja: | ! |
| Mr: | I Ho-chae |
| Rr: | I Ho-jae |
Lee Ho-jae (; born 14 October 2000) is a South Korean professional footballer, who plays as a center-forward for Pohang Steelers.[1]
After completing his youth development between New Zealand, with NRFL Premier club Onehunga Sports, and South Korea, where he played for Incheon United while his father Lee Ki-hyung was coaching the first team, Lee entered Korea University and eventually graduated in 2020.
At the start of 2021, Lee officially started his professional football career by joining K League 1 side Pohang Steelers. He subsequently made his professional debut on 28 February 2021, when he came in as a substitute for the injured Alex Grant in the 83rd minute of the 2-1 win against Incheon United.
On 28 June of the same year, he also made his debut in the AFC Champions League, as he replaced Go Young-Joon in the 88th minute of the group stage match against Malaysian side Johor Darul Ta'Zim, which ended up in a 4–1 win for Pohang.
On 3 October 2021, after coming in as a substitute for Lee Seung-Mo in the 76th minute of a league match against Gwangju FC, he scored his first and second professional goals (respectively, in the 83rd and 90th minutes), which proved to be crucial as his team ultimately gained a 3–2 come-back victory.[2]
Lee joined the South Korean under-23 national team for the first time in September 2021, when he was invited by manager Hwang Sun-hong to take part in a training camp in Paju.
He is the son of former professional footballer and manager Lee Ki-hyung, who represented South Korea at full international level. He moved to New Zealand in 2007 when his father signed for Auckland City.
| Club performance | League | Cup | Continental | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |
| 2021 | Pohang Steelers | K League 1 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 20 | 2 | |
| 2022 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 20 | 2 | |||