Im Su-jeong

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 A Tale of Two Sisters, followed by the popular television series 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 (2006), Happiness (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 (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 KBS2 drama series I'm Sorry, I Love You brought her into the public eye. 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's surrealist I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK.

In 2007, she began shedding that image by taking on more adult roles, notable among them Hur Jin-ho's romantic melodrama Happiness, Choi Dong-hoon's blockbuster fantasy Jeon Woo-chi: The Taoist Wizard, romantic comedy 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 El Fin del Mundo ("The End of the World"), which screened at the prestigious contemporary art exhibition dOCUMENTA. She also acted opposite veteran Thai actor Sorapong Chatree in Aditya Assarat's short film Phuket, which was commissioned jointly by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Association of Tourism and Hotel Operators of Phuket.

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

In 2015, Im starred in Perfect Proposal, a remake of British crime thriller Woman of Straw that was partly shot in Macau. She next starred in Time Renegades, a time-hopping romantic thriller where she played dual roles.

In October 2015, her contract with KeyEast 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.

In February 2017, Im was cast in the drama Chicago Typewriter alongside Yoo Ah-in. 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 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 Melancholia alongside Lee Do-hyun.

In November 2024, Im signed with new agency MYM Entertainment.

Personal life In an interview with Kwak Soo-jung in 2021, Im Soo-jung stated that she had become a vegan and was an advocate of animal rights.

On how she became a vegan, she said: "After going on a vegan trip with an acquaintance, my lifestyle became completely different from before. As a result, I naturally became interested in animal welfare and the environment. In the end, it was all connected."

On her thoughts on the difficulty in maintaining a vegan diet, she said: "The number of vegetarian restaurants is limited in some neighbourhoods [of Seoul]... It's important to have more vegetarian restaurants, but it's okay if there are vegetarians options... even if it's not vegan, I hope more restaurants will have one or two vegetarian options so that people don't feel alienated. If we do that, I think we can enjoy a sustainable vegetarian culture together into the future."

Concerning animal products, she said: "[On set] I have to wear leather clothes or bags because of my role, and I can have trouble locating alternative materials. There are times when stylists can't pick up these clothes or accessories as much as they want. No one says anything because it's acting, but I sometimes falter a little by myself. That's a bit agonizing. Fortunately, fake fur and artificial leather are so good these days, so I wear them mainly, but I try not to even do that. Some people may think it's a little too much, but I think that artificial leather and faux fur should be avoided as well. Because even if it's fake, it's true that if it looks good, it will eventually lead to more consumption of leather and fur materials without recognizing the boundaries between fake and real."

Lump Sugar Kim Shi-eun

I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK Cha Young-goon

Happiness Eun-hee

Jeon Woo-chi: The Taoist Wizard Seo In-kyung

Finding Mr. Destiny Seo Ji-woo

Come Rain, Come Shine Young-shin

All About My Wife Yeon Jung-in

Perfect Proposal Ji-yeon

Time Renegades Seo Yoon-jung / Jung So-eun

The Table Hye-gyeong

Mothers Hyo-jin

Our Cat Narration (voice)

Cobweb Lee Min-jae

Single in Seoul Joo Hyeon-jin

Television series + Year Title Role 2001 School 4 Oh Hye-ra 2004 I'm Sorry, I Love You Song Eun-chae 2017 Chicago Typewriter Jeon Seol 2019 Search: WWW Bae Ta-mi 2021 Melancholia Ji Yoon-soo 2025 Low Life Yang Jung-sook 2026 Mad Concrete Dreams Kim Seon

Music video appearances Year Song title Artist 1999 "Deep Sadness" Y2K 2001 "I'm Sorry" Kim Jang-hoon 2012 "White Night" Nell 2024 "Jealous" Sunwoo Jung-a

Awards and nominations + Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination Award ceremony Year Category Nominee / Work Result Asia-Pacific Film Festival 2012 Best Actress All About My Wife Asian Film Awards 2007 Best Actress I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK Baeksang Arts Awards 2005 Best New Actress – Television I'm Sorry, I Love You 2007 Best Actress – Film I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK 2008 Happiness 2013 All About My Wife 2026 Best Supporting Actress – Television Low Life Blue Dragon Film Awards 2003 Best New Actress A Tale of Two Sisters 2006 Best Actress Lump Sugar 2007 Happiness 2012 All About My Wife Blue Dragon Series Awards 2026 Best Supporting Actress Low Life Buil Film Awards 2008 Best Actress Happiness 2012 All About My Wife Busan Film Critics Awards 2003 Best New Actress A Tale of Two Sisters Chunsa Film Art Awards 2008 Best Actress Happiness Cine21 Film Awards 2003 Best New Actress A Tale of Two Sisters Director's Cut Awards 2003 2026 Best Actress in a Series Low Life Fantasporto Film Festival 2004 Best Actress in an International Fantasy Film A Tale of Two Sisters Grand Bell Awards 2004 Best New Actress 2008 Best Actress Happiness 2012 All About My Wife Hong Kong International Film Festival 2007 I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK KBS Drama Awards 2004 Best Couple Award Im Soo-jung I'm Sorry, I Love You Best New Actress I'm Sorry, I Love You Netizen Award Popularity Award Korea Drama Awards 2019 Top Excellence Award, Actress Search: WWW Korean Association of Film Critics Awards 2003 Best New Actress A Tale of Two Sisters Korean Film Awards 2003 Premiere Rising Star Awards 2006 Best Actress Lump Sugar Screamfest Horror Film Festival 2003 A Tale of Two Sisters Style Icon Awards 2012 Style Icon Im Soo-jung Women in Film Korea Awards 2003 Best New Actress A Tale of Two Sisters 2012 Best Actress All About My Wife