Born in 1980, KONG Hyo-jin first made her name modelling for advertisements before landing her first acting role in the cult horror <Memento Mori> (1999), the second installment in the Whispering Corridors series, which is also known as one of the earliest mainstream Korean films to show a homosexual couple. She won the Best New Actress in TV at the Baeksang Arts Awards for her performance in the TV series <Wonderful Days> (2001), therefore establishing her as one...More

Born in 1980, KONG Hyo-jin first made her name modelling for advertisements before landing her first acting role in the cult horror <Memento Mori> (1999), the second installment in the Whispering Corridors series, which is also known as one of the earliest mainstream Korean films to show a homosexual couple. She won the Best New Actress in TV at the Baeksang Arts Awards for her performance in the TV series <Wonderful Days> (2001), therefore establishing her as one of the most sought-after TV actresses. Starting with her role in JANG Jin’s comedy <Guns And Talks> (2001), she started her film career in earnest, appearing soon after in the action comedy <Volcano High> (2001) and the retro comedy <Conduct Zero> (2002). She played a role of a young woman who has a complicated relationship with her estranged mother in <Family Ties> (2006), a character KIM created specifically for KONG. She notably worked with celebrated auteurs such HUR Jin-ho on <Happiness> (2007) and LEE Myun-se on <M> (2007). She made another strong impression in LEE Kyoung-mi’s debut <Crush And Blush> (2008). Her turn as a grumpy and socially awkward teacher was lauded by the critics, including PARK Chan-wook who was producing the project, and won her several acting accolades. KONG then appeared in the low-key indie road movie <Sisters on the Road> (2009) and remained in the low-budget realm for 2010’s <Rolling Home with a Bull> (2010), but on television side of her career she reinvented herself once again as a strong-minded and astute cook in the series <Pasta> (2010), in which she co-stared with LEE Sun-kyun. She next teamed with HA Jung-woo for the anti-romcom <Love Fiction> in 2012. HA having lost a bet, he subsequently brought her along on his 577 km-walk across South Korea, which he documented in <Project 577> (2012). The next year, KONG appeared in the ensemble family drama <Boomerang Family> (2013). In 2014, KONG moved to theater with a first performance in the play <Educating Rita>. In the drama film <MISSING> (2015), she drew notice with her role of a babysitter who one day runs away with the baby she was supposed to look after. In <Door Lock> (2018), KONG played a woman living alone in a studio apartment who finds signs that someone has been trying to unlock her door, and in <Hit-and-Run Squad> (2019) she appeared as a police officer in charge of hit-and-run cases. She recently returned to romantic fare, but always with a twist. In the romcom-thriller series <When the Camellia Blooms>, she played a single mother who runs a bar and falls in love with a police officer, while she portrayed a disillusioned 30-something single office worker in the film <Crazy Romance> (2019).
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