Lee Jae-keun explained

Lee Jae-keun
Native Name:이재근
Native Name Lang:ko
Fullname:Lee Jae-keun
Birth Date:20 November 2007
Birth Place:Hwasun-gun, Jeollanam-do, South Korea
Hometown:Gunpo City, South Korea
Coach:Choi Hyung-kyung
Kim Na-hyun
Kim Min-seok
Beganskating:2014

Lee Jae-keun (; born November 20, 2007) is a South Korean figure skater. He is the 2024 JGP Latvia silver medalist and finished in the top six at the 2024 World Junior Championships.

Personal life

Lee was born on November 20, 2007, in Hwasun-gun, Jeollanam-do, South Korea. He has three siblings: an older brother and sister, and a younger sister.

Career

Early career

After watching a video of Yuna Kim's El Tango de Roxanne short program from the 2007 World Championships, Lee's parents decided to sign their youngest daughter, Bo-mi, up for figure skating in 2014. They signed Lee up for lessons as well so his sister would not have to attend them alone. From there, Lee fell in love with the sport. Upon noticing Lee's talent for figure skating and wanting their children to have access to better training conditions, Lee's parents sold their home and while his mother and older siblings remained in Hwasun-gun, Lee's father moved him and his younger sister to Incheon, Seoul.

Lee made his international debut as a basic novice, winning gold at the 2018 Asian Open Trophy. The following year, he won the silver medal as an advanced novice at the 2019 Prague Ice Cup. Competing on the senior level at the 2021 South Korean Championships, Lee came in sixth place.

2021–22 season

Coached by Han Sung-mi, Lee began the season by finishing third at the 2021 South Korean ISU Junior Grand Prix Qualifiers and was given a Junior Grand Prix assignment as a result of his placement. Debuting on the Junior Grand Prix circuit, Lee finished fifth at 2021 JGP Slovakia. He went on to finish sixth at the 2022 South Korean Championships.

Following the season, Lee made a coaching change from Han Sung-mi to Park Bit-na.

2022–23 season

Lee started the season by winning bronze at the 2022 South Korean ISU Junior Grand Prix Qualifiers and, due to this placement, was given one Junior Grand Prix assignment. He went on to compete on the junior level at the 2021 South East Asian Open Trophy, where he won the gold medal.

At 2022 JGP Italy, Lee finished sixth-place. Going on to compete at the 2023 South Korean Championships in January, Lee finished seventh.

2023–24 season

Before beginning the season, Lee switched coaches from Park Bit-na to Choi Hyung-kyung. He first competed at the 2023 South Korean ISU Junior Grand Prix Qualifiers, where he finished fourth. With this placement, Lee was assigned one Junior Grand Prix event. At this JGP event in Japan, Lee finished sixth.

In January, Lee competed at the 2024 South Korean Championships, where he finished fifth. With this result, Lee was given one of the two spots to compete at the 2024 World Junior Championships in Taipei, Taiwan. At these championships, Lee placed twelfth in the short program but fifth in the free skate, moving up to sixth-place overall.

Following the event, he said, “Even though I was nervous, I was very honored because it was a bigger stage, and I felt really good. I focused until the end and I think I finished well.” His placement, along with teammate, Seo Min-kyu's, first-place finish earned South Korea three spots for the men's singles event at the 2025 World Junior Championships.

2024–25 season

Lee began the season by winning silver at the 2024 South Korean ISU Junior Grand Prix Qualifiers and was given two Junior Grand Prix assignments as a result of this placement. Lee's first event on the Junior Grand Prix circuit was 2024 JGP Latvia where he won the silver medal after placing third in the short program and second in the free skate. He would subsequently go on to finish fourth at 2024 JGP China.

In late November, Lee competed on the senior level at the annual South Korean Ranking Event, where he finished in fourth place.

Programs

SeasonShort programFree skatingExhibition
2024–2025
  • Archangel
2023–2024
  • Io ci sarò
  • O Verona
  • Fortune's Fool
  • Tempt Not a Desperate Man
  • First Kiss
  • Eternal Love
  • A Thousand Times Good Night
2022–2023
  • Otoñal
  • Pas de deux
2021–2022
  • The Untouchables
    • The Man with the Matches
    • The Strength of the Righteous
    • Death Theme
    • Al Capone
    • The Untouchables
2019–2020
  • Beethoven Havok
  • Beethoven's 5 Secrets
2018–2019

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

International
Event18–1919–2020–2121–2222–2323–2424–25
align=left 6th
align=left 4th
align=left 6th
align=left 6th
align=left bgcolor=silver 2nd
align=left 5th
align=left bgcolor=gold 1st B
align=left Prague Ice Cup bgcolor=silver 2nd A
align=left SEA Open Trophy bgcolor=gold 1st J
National
6th 6th 7th 5th
align=left Ranking Competition bgcolor=cc9966 3rd 6th 7th bgcolor=cc9966 3rd 4th
align=left JGP Qualifiers bgcolor=cc9966 3rd bgcolor=cc9966 3rd 4th bgcolor=silver 2nd
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew
Levels: J = Junior level

Detailed results

Junior results

Current personal best scores are highlighted in bold.

2024–25 season
DateEventLevelSPFSTotal
October 9–12, 20242024 JGP ChinaJunioralign=center 3
74.08
align=center 6
127.37
align=center 4
201.45
August 28–31, 20242024 JGP LatviaJunioralign=center 3
73.78
align=center 2
146.48
align=center bgcolor=silver 2
220.26
2023–24 season
DateEventLevelSPFSTotal
February 26–March 3, 20242024 World Junior ChampionshipsJunioralign=center 12
70.15
align=center 5
142.07
align=center 6
212.22
January 4–7, 20242024 South Korean ChampionshipsSenioralign=center 5
75.26
align=center 4
151.38
align=center 5
226.64
September 13–16, 20232023 JGP JapanJunioralign=center 7
65.76
align=center 5
127.67
align=center 6
193.43
2022–23 season
DateEventLevelSPFSTotal
January 5–9, 2023Senioralign=center 7
72.18
align=center 7
138.56
align=center 7
210.74
October 12–15, 20222022 JGP ItalyJunioralign=center 6
69.47
align=center 5
127.46
align=center 6
196.93
September 2–4, 20222022 South East Asian Open TrophyJunioralign=center 1
64.78
align=center 1
114.95
align=center bgcolor=gold 1
179.73
2021–22 season
DateEventLevelSPFSTotal
January 7–9, 20222022 South Korean ChampionshipsSenioralign=center 5
67.54
align=center 8
132.12
align=center 6
199.66
September 1–4, 20212021 JGP SlovakiaJunioralign=center 5
68.70
align=center 8
119.50
align=center 6
188.20
2020–21 season
DateEventLevelSPFSTotal
February 24–26, 20212021 South Korean ChampionshipsSenioralign=center 7
59.01
align=center 6
111.43
align=center 6
170.44

External links