Kim Yoo-jung (Hangul: 김유정; born September 22, 1999) is a South Korean actress, model and host. After her acting debut in 2003, she became one of the best known child actresses in Korea. Since then, she transitioned into teen roles by starring intelevision series Dong Yi (2010), Moon Embracing the Sun (2012), May Queen (2012) and Angry Mom (2015).[1] She hosted the music show Inkigayo from November 2014 to April 2016. She took on her first adult leading role in KBS2’s historical drama Love in the Moonlight (2016).
Considered “Korea’s Little Sister” when she was a child actress, Kim has since been dubbed “Sageuk Fairy” after starring in several acclaimed historical period dramas in her career.[2]
Upon her debut, Kim quickly became one of the most in-demand child actresses in Korea.[3] By the time she was a fifth grader in elementary school, Kim had appeared in 13 TV dramas and 15 movies.
In 2008, she received her first acting award as Best Child Actress for action-adventure series Iljimae. This was followed by positively received performances in Dong Yi and Flames of Desire.[4] Grudge: The Revolt of Gumiho was particularly notable for Kim, since it was the first time she played a major role who wasn’t the childhood counterpart (or younger version) of the female protagonist.[5][6][7]
She rose to popularity in 2012 when she starred in the fantasy-period drama Moon Embracing the Sun, which reunited Kim with Grudge: The Revolt of Gumiho costar Lee Min-ho and Iljimae costar Yeo Jin-goo.[8] Moon surpassed 40% ratings and gained “national drama” status. She then gave another well-received turn in May Queen. This was followed by a supporting role in 2013 film Commitment,[9] and family drama Golden Rainbow.[1]
In 2014, Kim’s performance as a teenage bully in Thread of Lies drew critical acclaim.[10] She next played a traditional funeral singer (or “gok-bi”) in the single-episode Drama Special anthology,[11] and was cast in the horror mystery Room 731, an English-language graduate thesis film byUSC filmmaker Youngmin Kim.[12] This was followed by a starring role in the period drama Secret Door.[13] Kim also began hosting music showInkigayo in November 2014 and left the show in April 2016.[14]
In 2015 she starred in the television series Angry Mom which tackled bullying and school violence.[15] She next reprised her role as a cat-turned-woman in Love Cells, a two-season web series adapted from the webtoon of the same title.[16]
In 2016, Kim was cast to play the main character alongside Park Bo-gum in the youth historical drama Love in the Moonlight, which began airing in August on KBS2.[17]
jessica angel 