The Miss Korea Who Played Gayageum at Carnegie Hall: Lee Hanee Sings in Netflix’s Tantara

Featured photo: Lee Hanee in October 2024. Photo: K-POPIT, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.

Lee Hanee’s charm is that she was born for the stage. In December 2006, the same year she was crowned Miss Korea, she played gayageum sanjo and sang byeongchang, the art of singing while playing the Korean zither, with her mother, Professor Moon Jae-suk, and her sister at Zankel Hall in New York’s Carnegie Hall. The next year she placed fourth at Miss Universe (Seoul Economic Daily, 2006, Wikipedia). On December 11, in Netflix’s “Tantara,” she becomes Yang-ja, a woman who sings.

The moment I saw Yang-ja’s singing face on the release-date poster, my heart started racing as a fan. The hands that played the gayageum, the body that danced the court dance Chunaengmu at the closing ceremony of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, will now fill a stage with song. I can’t think of a role that’s more Lee Hanee than this (Chosun Ilbo, 2019).

December 11, 2026: Singer Yang-ja in “Tantara”

“Tantara” is the story of people who had nothing but threw themselves into the brutal, violent Korean entertainment world of the 1960s to 80s, dreaming of dazzling success. Noh Hee-kyung writes and Lee Yoon-jung directs the 22-episode series (Netflix, TenAsia).

• Yang-ja, who dreams of singing. Lee plays Yang-ja, a woman who dreams of becoming a singer (TenAsia).
• Desperate and joyful at once. On the release-date poster, which lays out the characters’ lives around a turntable, Yang-ja sings with a face that is desperate and full of joy at the same time (Geumgang Ilbo, MHN).
• The people on the same stage. Min-ja (Song Hye-kyo), who throws herself into the record business, her childhood friend Dong-gu (Gong Yoo), the bold newcomer Min-hee (Kim Seol-hyun), the star-making composer Seok Gil-yeo (Cha Seung-won) and Mal-sun (Na Moon-hee) share the stage. How Song Hye-kyo arrived here is in Song Hye-kyo’s road from The Glory to Tantara.
• No. 6 before release. More than a month before release, the series jumped from No. 52 to No. 6 on KOFICE’s online buzz index (Wikitree).
• Release. Friday, December 11, at 5 p.m. Korea time (3 a.m. the same day on the U.S. East Coast), worldwide on Netflix.

Where to watch: Netflix (worldwide, checked November 7, 2026).

Filmography: making people laugh, singing, and leaping over walls

• 2017, “The Rebel.” She was Jang Nok-su, the gisaeng who held the heart of King Yeonsangun. A Seoul National University graduate in Korean traditional music, she took on a woman who captivates a king with song and dance, and won praise along with several acting awards (Wikipedia).

• 2019, “Extreme Job.” She was Detective Jang on a narcotics squad undercover as a fried chicken restaurant. More than 16 million people saw it, making it the second-biggest Korean film ever at the box office (Wikipedia).

Where to watch: Rakuten Viki in the U.S., Netflix Korea (JustWatch, checked November 7, 2026).

• 2019, “The Fiery Priest.” As prosecutor Park Kyung-sun, sparring with Kim Nam-gil, she was part of a show that topped 20% ratings, and she came back for Season 2 in 2024 (Wikipedia).

Five years later, the priest and the prosecutor were back together.

Where to watch: Netflix (U.S. and Korea, JustWatch, checked November 7, 2026).

• 2021, “One the Woman.” A double role: corrupt prosecutor Jo Yeon-ju and chaebol daughter-in-law Kang Mi-na. The finale hit 17.8% ratings, and she won the Top Excellence Award at the SBS Drama Awards (Wikipedia).

Where to watch: OnDemandKorea in the U.S., Netflix Korea (JustWatch, checked November 7, 2026).

• 2023, “Phantom.” In this anti-Japanese spy film set in 1933 Gyeongseong, colonial-era Seoul, she stood face to face with Sul Kyung-gu, whose own long road is in Sul Kyung-gu’s story from Peppermint Candy.

Where to watch: Netflix Korea (JustWatch, checked November 7, 2026).

• 2023, “Killing Romance.” As Yeo-rae, a top star who married a tycoon from an island nation, she pushed a flashy, wacky, almost musical comedy all the way to the end.

Where to watch: Netflix Korea (JustWatch, checked November 7, 2026).

• 2024, “Knight Flower.” Jo Yeo-hwa: a chaste widow by day, a masked hero leaping over walls by night. The role won her the Grand Prize at the Korea Drama Awards (MBC).

Where to watch: Rakuten Viki in the U.S., Wavve in Korea (JustWatch, checked November 7, 2026).

• 2025, “Aema.” In this Netflix series set in Chungmuro, the heart of Korea’s film industry in the 1980s, she became Jeong Hee-ran, the top star of her era (Wikipedia). Having played a star of 1980s cinema, she now travels back one more era, to a singer on the stages of the 1960s.

Where to watch: Netflix (U.S. and Korea, JustWatch, checked November 7, 2026).

From the sound of a gayageum at Carnegie Hall to the spotlight of Chungmuro, she now becomes a song on a turntable. At 5 p.m. Korea time on December 11, I’ll be holding my breath for the moment Yang-ja sings her first line.