Korean model and actor Lee Soo-hyuk began his mandatory military service on Thursday, according to Lee‘s label YG Entertainment.

(YG Entertainment)

In a statement released Thursday, YG Entertainment said, “We ask for your understanding on not being able to let fans know about Lee’s enlistment beforehand. We wanted to respect his wishes to enlist quietly, as he thought it was not something to brag about, but just be thankful for.”

The statement included Lee’s comment on his enlistment.

“I wanted to tell my fans about my enlistment while spending some time with them, but I didn’t get a chance to do so. I feel sorry and wistful about it,” he wrote.

Lee, who originally debuted as a runway model in 2006, went into acting after appearing in music videos for girl groups Gavy NJ and now-defunct 2NE1 from 2009 to 2010.

He starred in drama series such as KBS’ “White Christmas” and SBS’ “Deep Rooted Tree,” both in 2011.

By Hong Dam-young (lotus@heraldcorp.com)