Early in the autumn season, a familiar face appeared at ECC Youngsan Hall at Ewha Womans University. It was Lee So-eun, the singer beloved in the late 1990s for hits such as Seobangnim, Oraeorae, Kitchen, and Dalmatjana. Because her radiant on-stage presence and clear, warm voice remain so vivid to many, the news of her enrolling in a U.S. law school came as a surprise. Since this major career shift, she has worked as a lawyer while also expanding her role as an author and the CEO of a content startup. We spoke with her about her dynamic, ever-evolving journey across law, literature, and music.

University days as beautiful as a watercolor

at seventeen and was at the height of her singing career, Korea University provided an opportunity to channel her abundant passion and curiosity in new directions. She never missed major school events such as the train game at the Ko-Yon Games or the Ipsilenti Festival every year. She enjoyed walking through Anam-dong so much that a humorous rumor spread: “If you visit a certain karaoke room on Chamsaligil, you might find Lee So-eun singing.”

Balancing her dual roles as a singer and university student, Lee discovered early on that even a full day was not enough time. In her sophomore year, as her external activities increased, she enrolled in liberal arts courses within the engineering college in order to complete her academic requirements in the mornings. Approaching graduation, she often studied late into the night at the library before leaving for her radio program at the broadcasting station. Despite this demanding schedule, Lee succeeded in forming lifelong friendships at Korea University. “The friends I’m still closest to today are my college friends. We had a truly strong bond.”

She values the education she received in the Department of English Language and Literature to such an extent that she even took her old textbooks with her when she moved to the United States. Recently, while preparing a new album that integrates poetry and music, she revisited her favorite modern poetry class. “I reread Ezra Pound and Philip Larkin,” she reflected. “And I realized that the classes I took back then had provided essential nourishment for me.”

Redefine myself in an unfamiliar world

In 2009, Lee abruptly paused her singing career and entered Northwestern University Law School in the United States. “I observed my peers and seniors preparing for their careers while showing wide-ranging interests. Naturally, I thought, ‘I should broaden my horizons too.’ I expected that studying law would deepen my understanding of the world.”

However, upon leaving the spotlight and entering the U.S. legal profession, she felt as though she had transitioned from a richly colored world to a black and white one. “I was confused,” she said. “I bore the uncommon identity of being a woman, a foreigner, and a former artist. It was a time when I had to completely reset and redefine myself from the ground up.”

The conservative atmosphere of the legal community, the high-intensity workload, and the dynamics of office politics were additional challenges she had to overcome. “I didn’t realize the legal profession would be that difficult,” she said with a laugh. “It’s an extremely demanding job, both mentally and physically.” Nevertheless, her work as an attorney provided her with significant satisfaction and growth. “My experience at a law firm and at the International Court of Arbitration was truly invaluable. Although it was challenging, in retrospect, it enriched me hugely. Because the profession requires continuous study, I grew tremendously. Above all, I felt a deep sense of reward in being able to help others.”

The value of my best, not the best, and the importance of staying true to myself

Despite her bold move to New York, her legal studies, and her eventual career as an attorney, she continued to feel internal pressure to excel. In law school, she even went through periods of depression, struggling with her comparatively weaker English skills and exam scores than those of her American classmates. She coped with these difficult times through writing. “I do free writing—simply putting all my worries onto the page, as if emptying my mind. They don’t have to be solved; the act of writing itself is therapeutic.”

In her 2022 book I Am Enough as I Am Now, which recounts her growth through acknowledging her failures and shortcomings, she emphasizes that my best is more important than the best. This understanding—that one should recognize and accept one’s own best efforts rather than strive for unattainable perfection—arose from the physical warnings she experienced while suffering from a herniated disc. “In my twenties and thirties, I pushed myself excessively. I had many goals, and whenever I reached the limits of my ability, I would pressure myself, thinking, ‘Why can’t you do better?’ Eventually, whenever I overworked, my back would give out. That was when I realized: I don’t need to live like that.”

Her life’s guiding principle eventually changed—prioritizing the recognition of her own unique qualities became essential. “Even during my singing days, I disliked the idea of being confined to the notion that ‘a musician must be this way,’ and later, that ‘a lawyer must be that way.’ Once I chose not to accept roles or expectations that didn’t align with me, I felt much more at ease.” The key to shaping the lawyer Lee So-eun—who opts for colorful dresses over monochrome suits, explores numerous fields with active curiosity, and approaches clients with emotional sensitivity—was ultimately learning to be fully satisfied with who she is now.

With her direction now firmly established, she is stepping once more into the field of creative work. Inspired by the wish to make meaningful songs for her daughter, she produced the album Lee So-eun’s Perspective – Notes on a Poem (2025), based on children’s poetry, and simultaneously launched CalLEEope Studio, a startup focused on developing children’s media.

Her journey began with the conviction that, in today’s content-saturated world, children are not fully experiencing the purity and imagination that should be theirs at their age. Her own childhood memories—making up stories with a radio antenna as a microphone, and feeling connected to the world through films and books—continually reminds her of the power of strong storytelling. Reflecting on the messages of hope, the dreams, and the acceptance of failure that shaped her youth, she hopes that children today will likewise learn to listen inwardly and discover their own unique voices.

Even now, with her legal practice temporarily on hold as she shifts toward entrepreneurship, her commitment to staying true to herself remains unchanged. Rather than adopting the stereotypical image of the extrovert entrepreneur often expected of startup founders, she channels most of her energy into creating wholesome stories and developing new projects through periods of focused, solitary work.

Lee So-eun on stage at the 2025 Lee So-eun concert Hello Again, Again (Photo provided by NHN Link)

Experience real growth without shortcuts

In this rapidly changing era, what she recommends to her juniors is the discipline of “slow training.” “It’s crucial to choose work where shortcuts simply don’t exist. Today, even a single sentence can be polished by AI to read like Shakespeare. But in an increasingly efficient world, the person who gains a real advantage will be the one who has invested genuine time—days and nights—into creating something themselves.”

She maintains that activities requiring time and personal execution such as learning an instrument or mastering a sport are extremely beneficial. She herself practices Barre, a full-body workout combining ballet and Pilates, every morning. “No machine can replace musical instrument practice or physical exercise. You feel moments where you’re bored, frustrated, and want to quit, but then, at some point, you experience the sense of accomplishment of having ascended to the next level. I believe that mindset translates into all other forms of work.”

She speaks from experience—experience accumulated gradually, layer by layer, through a life of navigating multiple careers. The confidence of someone who has never dodged a challenge but met each one directly is deeply rooted. “Don’t wait until every answer is clear. Go ahead and try. Let yourself be criticized, stumble against obstacles, and in that process, you’ll find the path that allows you to remain true to who you are.”

Lee’s next ambition is to bring gentle, meaningful stories into the world, guided by her conviction that “tending to the heart of even one child is where true social change begins.” We await the next chapter of someone who has sought a better world through music, through law, and through writing—continually shaping herself with courage and freedom.