Jung So-min

Kim Yoon-ji (; born March 16, 1989), known professionally as Jung So-min , is a South Korean actress. Jung made her screen debut in 2010 with a supporting role in the television series Bad Guy. She then got her first leading role that same year in the romantic comedy television series Playful Kiss. She is known for her leading roles in the television series Because This Is My First Life, Alchemy of Souls (2022), Love Next Door (2024), and Would You Marry Me? (2025), as well as the film Love Reset (2023).

Career 2010–2015: Beginnings

Jung first attracted attention when she made her acting debut in 2010 with a supporting role in the television series Bad Guy. This led to a leading role in her next project Playful Kiss, the Korean adaptation of the popular manga Itazura na Kiss. Though it received low ratings in Korea, the romantic comedy was popular overseas, further raising Jung's profile.

Jung then took a short break in 2011 to concentrate on her studies at the Korea National University of Arts. In 2012, she returned to the small screen as part of the ensemble cast of the sitcom Standby. Later that year, she played a more mature role opposite Sung Joon in the cable series Can We Get Married?.

Jung left her talent agency Bloom Entertainment in 2013 and joined SM Culture & Contents. She then appeared in Came to Me and Became a Star, a single-episode anthology Drama Special.

In 2014, Jung played a self-centered heiress who falls for the protagonist (played by Kang Ji-hwan) in Big Man. This was followed in 2015 by a supporting role in coming-of-age film Twenty, and leading roles in horror-romance film Alice: Boy from Wonderland and disaster-medical drama D-Day.

2016–present: Leading roles in film and television Jung starred in a Drama Special The Red Teacher in 2016. She was then cast as the female lead in The Sound of Your Heart opposite Lee Kwang-soo in December of the same year. The web drama was a success in China and gained more than 100 million views on Sohu.

In 2017, Jung was cast in KBS weekend family drama My Father is Strange. She also starred in the body-swap comedy Daddy You, Daughter Me opposite veteran actor Yoon Je-moon. She then left SM Culture & Contents in June and signed with new management agency Jellyfish Entertainment. In August, she confirmed her appearance in tvN's romantic comedy series Because This Is My First Life alongside Lee Min-ki. She also released an OST "Because You Are Beside Me" for the drama.

Jung was chosen to play the lead role in The Smile Has Left Your Eyes in 2018. This is an adaptation of the 2002 Japanese television series Sora Kara Furu Ichioku no Hoshi where she also recorded an OST "Star" with her co-star, Seo In-guk. The same year, she was cast in the historical comedy flick Homme Fatale. She wrapped up 2018 with her first radio show Jung So Min's Young Street on SBS Power FM, thus achieving her dream to become a radio DJ someday.

Jung left Jellyfish Entertainment in August 2019 and signed with another management company Blossom Entertainment. She then became a cast member in a healing variety program Little Forest, which is designed as a home kids garden development project for children. In December, she stepped down from her DJ post in Jung So Min's Young Street.

In 2020, Jung starred in the medical drama Soul Mechanic alongside Shin Ha-kyun where she portrayed a musical rising star with terrible anger management issues.

In 2021, she did a cameo in Park Joon-hwa's fantasy romantic comedy My Roommate Is a Gumiho, appearing as the woman whom protagonist Jang Ki-yong loved in the past. She also appeared in TV romance drama Monthly Magazine Home opposite Kim Ji-seok as an editor of a lifestyle magazine Monthly House.

In 2022, Jung returned to the small screen with the tvN period fantasy drama Alchemy of Souls where she played a skilled assassin whose soul is trapped inside the body of servant girl, alongside Lee Jae-wook. However, she only made a cameo in the season 2. In August, Jung signed with TH Company. In September, Jung returned to the big screen for the first time in three years with the sci-fi film Project Wolf Hunting.

In 2023, Jung signed with Ieum Hashtag. In October of the same year, Jung starred in the South Korean romantic comedy film, Love Reset, directed by Nam Dae-jung, co-starring Kang Ha-neul where she played a film producer who suffering from amnesia due to an unexpected accident.

Jung accepted the offer to star alongside Jung Hae-in in 2024 tvN romantic comedy drama, Love Next Door helmed by director Yoo Je-won and writer Shin Ha-eun of Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha where she portrayed a character of a woman who is successful in life but suddenly breaks down one day and returns to her hometown to reboot her life. The drama dominated the ratings for a number of weeks. In 2025, she starred in SBS TV's romantic comedy Would You Marry Me?.

In December 2025, Jung signed with Hiin Entertainment.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 2009 Worst Friends Mang Short film 2015 Twenty So-min 2019 Homme Fatale Hae-won 2023 Love Reset Hong Na-ra

Television series Year Title Role Notes 2010 Bad Guy Hong Mo-ne Playful Kiss Oh Ha-ni 2014 Miss Korea Gas station attendant Cameo (Ep. 20) Big Man Kang Jin-ah The Smile Has Left Your Eyes Yoo Jin-kang Be Melodramatic Seon-joo Cameo (Ep. 16) 2020 Soul Mechanic Han Woo-joo Monthly Magazine Home Na Young-won 2024 Love Next Door Bae Seok-ryu 2025 Would You Marry Me? Yoo Me-ri 2027 The Dealer Jung Gun-hwa

Television shows Year Title Role 2019 Little Forest Cast member

Theater + Theater play performances Year Title Role Venue Date 2023 Shakespeare in Love Viola de Lesseps Seoul Arts Center CJ Towol Theater January 28 to March 26 Sejong Arts Centre April 8 to 9

Discography Soundtrack appearances Year Song title Album Notes 2017 "Because You're Here" Because This Is My First Life OST

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 Artist Awards 2022 Popularity Award – Actor Jung So-min Asia Model Awards 2011 New Star Award Golden Cinematography Awards 2024 Best Actress Love Reset KBS Drama Awards 2016 Best Actress in a One-Act/Special/Short Drama KBS Drama Special – Red Teacher 2017 Excellence Award, Actress in a Serial Drama My Father is Strange Netizen Award, Actress 2020 Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries Soul Mechanic KBS Entertainment Awards 2016 Best Couple Award Jung So-min The Sound of Your Heart Korea Jewelry Awards 2010 Topaz Award Jung So-min Korean Drama Awards 2022 Top Excellence Award, Actress Alchemy of Souls Korean Culture and Entertainment Awards 2010 Best New Actress for TV Playful Kiss MBC Drama Awards 2010 Best New Actress Playful Kiss MBC Entertainment Awards 2012 Best Newcomer in a Comedy / Sitcom Standby SBS Drama Awards 2010 Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Special Bad Guy 2025 Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Romance/Comedy Drama Would You Marry Me? Best Couple Award Jung So-min Would You Marry Me? The Seoul Awards 2017 Best Supporting Actress – Drama My Father is Strange