At five years old, he began learning the piano and moved to the United Kingdom, where he attended the Purcell School for Young Musicians[1] and graduated from King's College London.

[5] After completing his military service, he made his comeback with a nationwide tour spanning twenty different cities and featured Kim Bum-soo and Lee Hyun-woo as guest singers.

The duo initially raised eyebrows due to their vastly different musical backgrounds and genres and the fact that they had no hosting or presenting experience but their candidness won audiences over.

[11] In 2010, Yiruma filed a civil suit against his then-label Stomp Music to terminate his exclusive contract due to unfair payment percentages, with the judge mediating an agreement that the company should pay 30% of the profits to him.

In April 2024, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and ordered the company to pay Yiruma his overdue share of the profits, which had amounted to 2.6 billion won (US$2,200,000) by then.