Im Soo-jung

Some Lesser Known Facts About Im Soo-jung

• Im Soo-jung is a South Korean actress. She is famous for her portrayal of ‘Cha Young‑goon’ in I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK (2006; South Korean), ‘Eun-hee’ in Happiness (2007; South Korean), and ‘Yeon Jung-in’ in All About My Wife (2012; South Korean).

• Im Soo-jung’s grandfather gave Soo-jung her name; the name means outstanding and bright.

• When she was in school, she wasn’t interested in studies. According to her teachers, she didn’t focus on her studies but she was very pretty.

  

• When she was in high school, Soo-jung decided that she would become an actor after watching a play. According to her, she doesn’t remember the title of the play or actors but she remembers vaguely wanting to become an actor as blood rushed in her body while watching the play.

• In 1998, she debuted as a model on the cover of the fashion magazine ‘Ceci’ and appeared as a teen model in a variety of magazines like Kiki and Fashion Communication.

  

• Soo-jung also made appearances in commercials for the brands like Cafe Latte, Johnson & Johnson, and Radio Garden. After modeling for some time, she decided to switch to acting.

• In 1999, she made an appearance in the music video of ‘Deep Sadness’ by the South Korean music group Y2K’s.

• Im Soo-jung played her first lead role as ‘Bae Su-mi’ in the South Korean psychological horror-drama film ‘A Tale of Two Sisters,’ which was written and directed by Kim Jee-woon. Inspired by a Joseon Dynasty folktale, the film chronicles disturbing events that happened after Bae Su-mi and her sister returned home from a mental institution; the events were the result of previous tragic deaths in the family. A huge commercial success, the film became the highest-grossing South Korean horror film and was the first South Korean picture to be screened in American theaters.

  

• In 2004, Im was seen in the Kdrama ‘I’m Sorry, I Love You’ in the lead role of ‘Song Eun-chae.’ The drama choices the tale of ‘Cha Moo-hyuk (played by the South Korean actor So Ji-sub), an attractive Australian scam artist originally from South Korea, who travels to South Korea to find his parents before death. In South Korea, he finds that he was abandoned together with his twin sister by his mother, a famous South Korean actress. he decides to take revenge from his mother, and in the process, he meets Eun-chae and falls for her. The series was aired on KBS2. With nationwide average ratings of 20.1%, the series was a super hit. It won numerous awards including 9 awards at KBS Drama Awards, 6 awards at Baeksang Arts Awards, and an award at Korean Broadcasting Awards.

  

• She also sang the OSTs of ‘I’m Sorry, I Love You,’ and the songs include 은채 & 무혁 첫키스 (lit. Eunchae & Moohyuk’s first kiss), “윤아, 괜찮아. – 은채 Narrative (lit. Yoona, it’s okay. – Eunchae Narrative), and 은채의 고백 – 은채 Narrative (lit. Confession of Eunchae – Eunchae Narrative).

• She then appeared in lead roles in the South Korean films …ing (2003), Sad Movie, (2005), and Lump Sugar (2006), all commercial success.

• In 2006, Soo-jung played the lead role of ‘Cha Young-goon’ in the blockbuster South Korean film ‘I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK.’ In the film, Young-goon, a patient at a mental institution who thinks she is a cyborg, and Park Il-soon (played by the South Korean singer and actor Rain), another mental patient who thinks he can steal people’s souls, fall in love with each other. In 2007, the film received the Alfred Bauer Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival.

  

• Im Soo-jung further appeared in memorable roles in the South Korean films Happiness (2007), Jeon Woo-chi: The Taoist Wizard (2009), Finding Mr. Destiny (2010), Come Rain, Come Shine(2011), and All About My Wife (2012).

• In 2012, Soo-jung, along with Lee Jung-jae, made an appearance in the South Korean 13-minute split-screen short film titled ‘El Fin del Mundo,’ which was created by South Korean visual artists Moon Kyung-won and Jeon Joon-ho and screened at the prestigious contemporary art exhibition dOCUMENTA.

• Some music videos she had appeared in are: Go (2000) by South Korean rapper Oh Yumi, I’m Sorry (2001) South Korean singer by Kim Jang-hoon, and White Night (2012) by South Korean band Nell.

• Between October 24, 2012, and October 30, 2012, she worked as a special DJ of the radio program ‘FM Music City’ that aired on MBC FM4U.

• Soo-jung has served as an ambassador for the Asian Racing Conference (ARC) in 2005 and an honorary ambassador for Gwangju Biennale in 2012.

• Soo-jung served as a judge at the Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival (2007), Great Short Film Festival (2012), Art Star Korea (2014), Jecheon International Music & Film Festival (2014), and Melodrama Division of Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival (2015).

• In 2015, Soo-jung contested in the Korean Pavilion at Venice Biennale for the work of Moon Kyungwon & Jeon Joonho ‘The Ways of Folding Space & Flying.’

• In 2015, Im Soo-jung decided to become a vegan after a test that stated that she was allergic to animal protein. Whenever she consumes milk, cheese, yogurt, and eggs, she has intense reactions to them. ^[6]Korea JoongAng Daily

• Since 2016, she has been hosting a podcast, along with Cine21 reporter Kim Hye-ri and SBS PD Choi Da-eun, named ‘Kim Hyeri’s Film Club,’ where the hosts discuss topics related to the music and film industry.

  

• After working in South Korean films for more than a decade, Im returned to television with the lead role of ‘Jeon Seol’ in the series ‘Chicago Typewriter’ that aired on tvN in 2017. The drama follows the lives of three individuals, including Jeon Seol, who were resistance fighters during the 1930s Japanese occupation of Korea and have reincarnated into the present. Jeon Seo reincarnates as a literary fanatic who is a fan of Ha Se-joo (played by the South Korean actor Yoo Ah-in).

  

• In 2017, she was named the cultural ambassador Korea-U.K. Creative Futures mutual exchange by the British Council. Reportedly, she was the first cultural ambassador since the start of exchange between the countries in 1973.

  

• She narrated the movie ‘Touch of the Light’ (2012) in 2013 and the trailer of the movie ‘Tasha Tudor: A Still Water Story’ (2017) in 2018.

• In 2019, she was seen in the Kdrama ‘Search: WWW’ that aired on tvN. The series is based on the lives of three women in their thirties, Bae Ta-mi, Cha Hyeon, and Song Ga-kyeong. Soo-jung played Bae Ta-mi, intellectual, goal-oriented, virtuous, and the director of the top web portal company ‘Unicon,’ who joins Barro (Unicon’s competitor) after she was thrown out of Unicon.

  

• In 2021, she appeared as ‘Ji Yoon-soo’ in the television drama ‘Melancholia’ that aired on tvN. The series is about the beautiful relationship of Yoon-soo, a mathematics teacher at Ahseong High School, and Baek Seung-yoo (played by Lee Do-hyun), a disturbed student who is good at maths. In the series, they team up to expose the corrupt practices happening in the Ahseong High School.

  

• Other South Korean films in Soo-jung’s filmography include Perfect Proposal (2015), Time Renegade (2016), The Table (2017), Mothers (2018), Our Cat (2019), and Single in Seoul (2022).

• Im Soo-jung has modeled for various South Korean brands like Maeil Dairies, Johnson & Johnson Kore, Yahoo! Korea, Samsung, LG, Hyundai, Dongsuh Foods, and Piaget.

• Im Soo-jung’s hobbies are listening to music, watching films, writing songs, and playing the guitar. She is also skilled at playing the piano and modern dance.

• One of her other pastimes is photography; she often clicks and uploads pictures of food and nature.

  

• While talking about her ideal type in an interview, she said that she likes men who are smart, intelligent, and can give her surprises (as she loves surprises). Her partner should not show jealousy (as she hates it) but shouldn’t be indifferent either.

• In an interview, she said that she wished to have a large family in the future, but marriage was a big step for her. When she meets the right partner, she will get married; marriage, for her, is deeper, more serious, and comes with many responsibilities.

• While talking about her date ideas in an interview, she said that she liked going out on picnic lunch or to beaches. She would prefer fun activities like feeding wild ducks, playing beach volleyball, flying kites, and playing in a corn maze. Other activities she would like to do with her date are learning musical instruments together or dancing.

• In an interview, Soo-jung once confessed that she wished to have a talk show of her own under her name like The Ellen Show.

• Im Soo-jung is an introvert and frets when she is in the spotlight. As a child, she would get anxious when standing before a crowd, and things haven’t changed much for her in the present either.

• Soo-jung started cooking after she became a vegan; before that, she didn’t know how to cook.

• Im Soo-jung drinks very minimally and only drinks with her close friends. ^[7]Lim Soo-jung – Instagram

• She has a strict diet plan and follows a detox routine every once in a while. During the detox period, she avoids drinking coffee, alcohol, or black tea, eats only two meals a day, and drinks only warm water. ^[8]Elle

• Im Soo-jung and South Korean actresses Gong Hyo-jin and Shin Min-a are close friends; the three often spend time with each other.