Kim Sae Ron's posthumous film 'Everyday, We' confirmed to premiere in 2026
Former APRIL member turned actress Lee Na Eun is officially returning to acting.
On July 18, Lee Na Eun's agency, Namoo Actors, announced that she will be part of the cast of the soon-to-premiere ENA K-drama The Defects. This marks her first official major role in six years since Extraordinary You, and serves as her grand comeback to the industry after her bullying controversy in 2021.
Lee Na Eun started her career as a member of the K-pop girl group APRIL in 2015. She then expanded her career and started acting in the 2018 series A-Teen. Both her career as an idol and actress are going smoothly, but after the bullying controversy in 2021, she was forced to not appear in any shows.
She was supposed to be part of the SBS hit K-drama Taxi Driver but had to drop out because of the issue. In 2022, Lee Na Eun's K-pop group officially disbanded.
After signing with Namoo Actors to restart her career, Lee Na-eun has been steadily making her return to the spotlight. Last year, she had cameo roles in Flex X Cop and Crash, and she has also been engaging with fans through her new YouTube channel. This year, the idol-turned-actress appears to be in full swing with her industry comeback.
The Defects will tell the story of revenge and the survival of children whose foster parents returned. The upcoming series will depict its story on the webtoon of the same name, which was illustrated by Ryu Ga Myeong and written by Eom Se Yoon.
Lee Na Eun will work alongside main leads Yeom Jung Ah, Won Jin A, Choi Young Joon, DEX, and Ahn Ji Ho.
The upcoming K-drama will be the next work of director Oh Ki Hwan, who also worked on the K-drama How to Be Thirty and films Fashion King, A Wedding Invitation, Five Senses of Eros, and more.
In the K-drama, Lee Na Eun will portray the role of So Mi. She is one of the children who was abandoned by her adoptive parents.
The Defects will premiere on July 21 at 10 PM KST. The K-drama will exclusively air on the ENA channel.
Do you think this is the right time for Lee Na Eun to make a comeback to K-dramas?
