Yunjin Kim (Hangul: 김윤진), also known as Kim Yun-Jin (born November 7, 1973) is a South Korean-American film and theater actress. She is best known for her role as Sun-Hwa Kwon on the American television series '' Lost'', and as the North Korean spy Bang-Hee in the South Korean film '' Shiri''. She also starred as Dr. Karen Kim in the ABC drama series ''

Mistresses Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a d ...

''.

Early life

Kim was born in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, South Korea. She immigrated to the United States with her family in 1983-1984. They lived in

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull a ...

, New York. She joined the middle school drama club in the 7th grade and performed in the musical ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play '' Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons ...

''. Kim attended high school at the prestigious Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, a public high school located in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. From there, she went on to study drama at the London Academy of Performing Arts and later earned her BFA degree in drama at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

. Kim has remarked that in her zeal to become Americanized quickly, she studied acting, academics and pronunciation with equal intensity. She is also a trained dancer and martial arts fighter.

Career

After graduation, Kim devoted herself full-time to acting. She garnered several minor parts on MTV, in soap opera-style dramas on ABC, and on the

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

stage. In 1997, she starred in ''Splendid Holiday'', a Korean TV drama shot on location in New York. Kim decided to return to Korea. She was cast in the TV drama ''

Wedding Dress A wedding dress or bridal gown is the dress worn by the bride during a wedding ceremony. The color, style and ceremonial importance of the gown can depend on the religion and culture of the wedding participants. In Western cultures and Anglo ...

'' and was also invited to act in Lee Kwangmo's feature '' Spring in My Hometown'', although she ended up not taking this role. Her breakthrough debut came in the 1999 film '' Shiri'', South Korea's first blockbuster film. ''Shiri'' became the highest-grossing film in Korean history at the time. In November 2000, she continued her association with

Kang Je-gyu Kang Je-gyu (born December 23, 1962) is a South Korean film director. Career After graduating from ChungAng University, Kang received his first prize at the Korea Youth Film Festival and Korea Scenario Awards in 1991. Kang's most notable co ...

in '' The Legend of Gingko''. After acting in a Japanese film and a feature set in Los Angeles, Kim appeared in the sci-fi feature '' Yesterday''. Then in 2002, Kim took the lead role in '' Ardor'', the feature film debut of documentarist Byun Young-ju. The film was invited to screen in a non-competitive section at the 2003

Berlin film festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

. In 2004, Kim started appearing in the U.S. television series '' Lost'', which ran for six seasons. In May 2006, '' Maxim'' named Kim number 98 on its annual Hot 100 List. In October 2006 she was featured on the cover of ''

Stuff Stuff, stuffed, and stuffing may refer to: *Physical matter *General, unspecific things, or entities Arts, media, and entertainment Books *''Stuff'' (1997), a novel by Joseph Connolly *''Stuff'' (2005), a book by Jeremy Strong Fictional ch ...

'', as well as an inside spread. In 2013, she had a leading role in the ABC drama series ''

''. In 2018, Kim returned to Korean television by headlining the series '' Ms. Ma, Nemesis''. In 2022, she starred as Seon Woo-jin in the korean remake of Money Heist, '' Money Heist: Korea - Joint Economic Area''.

Personal life

Kim married her former manager Park Jeong-hyeok in March 2010 on the island of

Oahu Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O� ...

, after shooting her final scenes for '' Lost''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Yunjin Living people Actresses from New York City Actresses from Seoul American television actresses Boston University College of Fine Arts alumni People from Staten Island South Korean emigrants to the United States South Korean television actresses South Korean film actresses 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses 20th-century South Korean actresses 21st-century South Korean actresses American actresses of Korean descent American voice actresses American video game actresses South Korean video game actresses South Korean voice actresses Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni Alumni of the British American Drama Academy 1973 births