# Lee Jae-keun

Lee Jae-keun (Korean: 이재근; 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, as well as 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. One month later, he placed sixth at the 2025 South Korean Championships.
Selected to compete at the 2025 World Junior Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, Lee concluded the season with an eleventh-place finish at that event.

## Programs

| Season | Short program | Free skating |
| 2024–2025 | Movement by Hozier choreo. by Lim Eun-soo | Archangel by Two Steps from Hell choreo. by Misha Ge |
| 2023–2024 | Io ci sarò by Andrea Bocelli & Lang Lang choreo. by Kim Hae-jin | O Verona (from Romeo + Juliet) by Craig Armstrong Fortune's Fool Tempt Not a Desperate Man First Kiss Eternal Love A Thousand Times Good Night (from Romeo & Juliet) by Abel Korzeniowski choreo. by Kim Hae-jin |
| 2022–2023 | Otoñal by Raúl Di Blasio choreo. by Shin Yea-ji | Pas de deux (from The Nutcracker) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky performed by André Previn choreo. by Shin Yea-ji |
| 2021–2022 | Otoñal by Raúl Di Blasio choreo. by Shin Yea-ji | The Untouchables The Man with the Matches The Strength of the Righteous Death Theme Al Capone The Untouchables by Ennio Morricone choreo. by Shin Yea-ji |
| 2019–2020 | The Edge by David McCallum Unsquare Dance by Dave Brubeck Was He Slow? (from Baby Driver) Kid Koala | Beethoven Havok (from X-Men: Apocalypse) by John Ottman Beethoven's 5 Secrets by The Piano Guys |
| 2018–2019 | All I Ask of You (from The Phantom of the Opera) performed by Josh Groban & Kelly Clarkson | Beethoven Havok (from X-Men: Apocalypse) by John Ottman Beethoven's 5 Secrets by The Piano Guys |

## Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix
International :
| Event | 18–19 | 19–20 | 20–21 | 21–22 | 22–23 | 23–24 | 24–25 |
| Junior Worlds | | | | | | 6th | 11th |
| JGP China | | | | | | | 4th |
| JGP Italy | | | | | 6th | | |
| JGP Japan | | | | | | 6th | |
| JGP Latvia | | | | | | | 2nd |
| JGP Slovakia | | | | 5th | | | |
| Asian Open Trophy | 1st B | | | | | | |
| Prague Ice Cup | | 2nd A | | | | | |
| SEA Open Trophy | | | | | 1st J | | |
| National ||||||||
| South Korean Championships | | | 6th | 6th | 7th | 5th | 6th |
| Ranking Competition | | | 3rd | 6th | 7th | 3rd | 4th |
| JGP Qualifiers | | | | 3rd | 3rd | 4th | 2nd |
| TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew Levels: J = Junior level ||||||||

## Detailed results

ISU personal best scores in the +5/-5 GOE System :
| Segment | Type | Score | Event |
| Total | TSS | 220.26 | 2024 JGP Latvia |
| Short program | TSS | 74.24 | 2025 World Junior Championships |
| Short program | TES | 40.91 | 2024 JGP Latvia |
| Short program | PCS | 34.67 | 2021 JGP Slovakia |
| Free skating | TSS | 146.48 | 2024 JGP Latvia |
| Free skating | TES | 77.29 | 2024 JGP Latvia |
| Free skating | PCS | 70.19 | 2024 JGP Latvia |

### Junior results

Current personal best scores are highlighted in bold.
2024–25 season :
| Date | Event | Level | SP | FS | Total |
| February 25–March 2, 2025 | 2025 World Junior Championships | Junior | 9 74.24 | 13 137.78 | 11 212.02 |
| January 2–5, 2025 | 2025 South Korean Championships | Senior | 6 74.90 | 6 156.34 | 6 231.24 |
| October 9–12, 2024 | 2024 JGP China | Junior | 3 74.08 | 6 127.37 | 4 201.45 |
| August 28–31, 2024 | 2024 JGP Latvia | Junior | 3 73.78 | 2 146.48 | 2 220.26 |
| 2023–24 season ||||||
| Date | Event | Level | SP | FS | Total |
| February 26–March 3, 2024 | 2024 World Junior Championships | Junior | 12 70.15 | 5 142.07 | 6 212.22 |
| January 4–7, 2024 | 2024 South Korean Championships | Senior | 5 75.26 | 4 151.38 | 5 226.64 |
| September 13–16, 2023 | 2023 JGP Japan | Junior | 7 65.76 | 5 127.67 | 6 193.43 |
| 2022–23 season ||||||
| Date | Event | Level | SP | FS | Total |
| January 5–9, 2023 | 2023 South Korean Championships | Senior | 7 72.18 | 7 138.56 | 7 210.74 |
| October 12–15, 2022 | 2022 JGP Italy | Junior | 6 69.47 | 5 127.46 | 6 196.93 |
| September 2–4, 2022 | 2022 South East Asian Open Trophy | Junior | 1 64.78 | 1 114.95 | 1 179.73 |
| 2021–22 season ||||||
| Date | Event | Level | SP | FS | Total |
| January 7–9, 2022 | 2022 South Korean Championships | Senior | 5 67.54 | 8 132.12 | 6 199.66 |
| September 1–4, 2021 | 2021 JGP Slovakia | Junior | 5 68.70 | 8 119.50 | 6 188.20 |
| 2020–21 season ||||||
| Date | Event | Level | SP | FS | Total |
| February 24–26, 2021 | 2021 South Korean Championships | Senior | 7 59.01 | 6 111.43 | 6 170.44 |