Im Soo-jung (; born July 11, 1979) is a South Korean actress and former model. After modeling for teen magazines, Im made her acting breakthrough in Kim Jee-woon's

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

'' A Tale of Two Sisters'' (2003), followed by the popular

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

'' I'm Sorry, I Love You'' (2004). She has since appeared in numerous films, notably '' Lump Sugar'' (2006), ''

I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK ''I'm A Cyborg, But That's OK'' () is a 2006 South Korean surrealist psychological romantic comedy-drama film directed by Park Chan-wook. It stars Jung Ji-hoon (Rain) as Il-soon and Im Soo-jung as Young-gun. It tells the story of a newly admi ...

'' (2006), ''

Happiness Happiness is a complex and multifaceted emotion that encompasses a range of positive feelings, from contentment to intense joy. It is often associated with positive life experiences, such as achieving goals, spending time with loved ones, ...

'' (2007), '' Jeon Woo-chi: The Taoist Wizard'' (2009), '' Finding Mr. Destiny'' (2010) and '' All About My Wife'' (2012), for which she won Best Actress at the 33rd Blue Dragon Film Awards. Recently, she starred in the television series '' Chicago Typewriter'' (2017), '' Search: WWW'' (2019), and ''

Melancholia Melancholia or melancholy (from ',Burton, Bk. I, p. 147 meaning black bile) is a concept found throughout ancient, medieval, and premodern medicine in Europe that describes a condition characterized by markedly depressed mood, bodily complain ...

'' (2021).

Career

Im Soo-jung made her debut in 1998 as a cover model for teen magazines. She then moved onto acting and debuted in the teen drama ''School 4'', but it was Kim Jee-woon's 2003 stylish horror '' A Tale of Two Sisters'' that first drew her critical notice and newcomer awards.

A year later in 2004, the hit

KBS2 KBS 2TV is a South Korean free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen ...

drama series '' I'm Sorry, I Love You'' catapulted her into stardom. With Im looking much younger than her age, those projects solidified her image as an eternal ingenue, as did touching character study '' ...ing'', horse jockey film '' Lump Sugar'', and

Park Chan-wook Park Chan-wook (; born 23 August 1963) is a Koreans, South Korean film director, screenwriter, Film producer, producer, and former film critic. He is considered one of the most prominent filmmakers of Cinema of South Korea, South Korean cinema a ...

's surrealist ''

''. In 2007, she began shedding that image by taking on more adult roles, notable among them

Hur Jin-ho Hur Jin-ho (; born August 8, 1963) is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. Career Hur graduated from Yonsei University with a degree in philosophy and went on to study filmmaking at the Korean Academy of Film Arts. His first steps as ...

's romantic melodrama ''

'',

Choi Dong-hoon Choi Dong-hoon (; born February 24, 1971) is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. He ranks as one of the most consistently successful directors working in contemporary Korean cinema, with all first five of his films becoming commercial ...

's blockbuster

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

'' Jeon Woo-chi: The Taoist Wizard'',

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

'' Finding Mr. Destiny'' and Lee Yoon-ki's minimalist breakup indie '' Come Rain, Come Shine''. For her performance in '' All About My Wife'', she won Best Actress at the Blue Dragon Film Awards, and the Women in Film Korea Awards. Im and Lee Jung-jae played two artists in a post-apocalyptic environment in the

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

''El Fin del Mundo'' ("The End of the World"), which screened at the prestigious contemporary art exhibition

dOCUMENTA Documenta (often stylized documenta) is an Art exhibition, exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. Documenta was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgarte ...

. She also acted opposite veteran Thai actor Sorapong Chatree in Aditya Assarat's short film ''

Phuket Phuket (; , , or ''Tongkah'') is one of the Southern Thailand, southern Provinces of Thailand, provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, List of islands of Thailand, the country's largest island, and another 3 ...

'', which was commissioned jointly by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Association of Tourism and Hotel Operators of

. Im was previously part of the SidusHQ agency, but moved to being managed by

KeyEast KeyEast (; stylized in all caps) is a management agency founded by actor Bae Yong-joon. History In May 2009, KeyEast acquired Japanese company () () and made it an affiliated company. After the acquition by SM Entertainment, it was renamed Stre ...

. KeyEast launched her official website in June 2012. According to the actress, the online space will be a place where she can converse with her fans directly. Lim Soo-Jung

In 2015, Im starred in '' Perfect Proposal'', a

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same s ...

of British

crime thriller Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professiona ...

Woman of Straw ''Woman of Straw'' is a 1964 British crime thriller directed by Basil Dearden and starring Gina Lollobrigida and Sean Connery. It was written by Robert Muller (screenwriter), Robert Muller and Stanley Mann, adapted from the 1954 novel ''La Femme ...

'' that was partly shot in

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

. She next starred in '' Time Renegades'', a time-hopping romantic thriller where she played dual roles. In October 2015, her contract with

expired and she decided to sign with new management agency YNK Entertainment. Im then starred in the female-centric indie film '' The Table'' directed by Kim Jong-kwan, which premiered at the

21st Busan International Film Festival The 21st Busan International Film Festival was held from October 6 to October 15, 2016 at the Busan Cinema Center and was hosted by Sul Kyung-gu and Han Hyo-joo. A total of 301 films from 69 countries were screened at the festival, including 96 wo ...

. In February 2017, Im was cast in the drama '' Chicago Typewriter'' alongside

Yoo Ah-in Uhm Hong-sik (; born October 6, 1986), known professionally as Yoo Ah-in (), is a South Korean actor, creative director, and gallerist. He is known for playing a diverse spectrum of roles in both television and film, where he often portrays dyn ...

. This marks Im's small screen come back after thirteen years since 2004. The same year, she was named the cultural ambassador for the UK-Korea Creative Futures mutual exchange. She then returned to the big screen with ''

Mothers A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gestat ...

'' based on the book ''Your Request - My Other Mother'' by Lee Dong-eun, who also directs the film. In 2019, Im returned to the small screen with the series '' Search: WWW''. In 2020, Im appeared the film '' Single in Seoul'' with Lee Dong-wook. In 2021, Im starred in the tvN drama ''

'' alongside Lee Do-hyun. In 2022, Im's contract with King Kong by Starship expired in August, and she decided not to renew the contract. In November 2024, Im signed with new agency MYM Entertainment.

Personal life

She is a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

and an advocate of

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...

."Im Soo Jung Talks About Going Vegan, Her Interest In The Environment And Animal Rights, And More"
soompi.com. Retrieved January 24, 2023.

Filmography

Film

Television series

Music video appearances

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Im, Soo-jung South Korean film actresses South Korean television actresses 21st-century South Korean actresses Actresses from Seoul 1979 births Living people Best New Actress Blue Dragon Film Awards winners