Yunjin Kim (; born November 7, 1973) is a South Korean and American actress. She is best known for her role as North Korean spy Bang-Hee in the South Korean film '' Shiri'' (1999) and Sun-Hwa Kwon on the American television series '' Lost'' (2004–2010). Her other notable works include '' Seven Days'' (2007), ''

Harmony In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...

'' (2010), '' The Neighbors'' (2012), and '' Ode to My Father'' (2014).

Early life

Kim was born in Pyeongchang-dong, Jongno District,

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, South Korea. She emigrated to the United States with her family in 1983–1984. They lived in

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

, New York. She joined the middle school drama club in the 7th grade and performed in the musical ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story, based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'' and on the Pygmalion (1938 film), 1938 film ...

''. Kim attended high school at the prestigious Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

graduating in 1989. From there, she went on to study drama at the London Academy of Performing Arts (LAMDA), and later earned her BFA degree in drama at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

. She is also a trained dancer and martial arts fighter.

Career

After graduation, Kim played several minor parts on MTV, in soap opera-style dramas on ABC, and on the

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

stage. In 1996, Kim decided to return to Korea, she starred in ''Splendid Holiday'' (1997), She was cast in the TV drama ''

Wedding Dress A wedding dress or bridal gown is the dress worn by the bride during a wedding ceremony. The color, style and ceremonial importance of the gown can depend on the religion and culture of the wedding participants. Wedding dresses hold a significan ...

'', Her breakthrough debut came in the 1999 film '' Shiri'', South Korea's first blockbuster film. ''Shiri'' became the highest-grossing film in Korean history at the time. In November 2000, she continued her association with

Kang Je-gyu Kang Je-gyu (born December 23, 1962) is a South Korean film director. Career After graduating from ChungAng University, Kang received his first prize at the Korea Youth Film Festival and Korea Scenario Awards in 1991. Kang's most notable cont ...

in '' The Legend of Gingko''. After acting in a Japanese film and a feature set in Los Angeles, Kim appeared in the sci-fi feature '' Yesterday''. Then in 2002, Kim took the lead role in the feature film debut of documentarist Byun Young-ju, '' Ardor''. In 2004, Kim started appearing in the U.S. television series '' Lost'', which ran for six seasons. In 2006 she was featured on the cover of ''

Stuff Stuff, stuffed, and stuffing may refer to: *Physical matter *General, unspecific things, or entities Arts, media, and entertainment Books *''Stuff'' (1997), a novel by Joseph Connolly *''Stuff'' (2005), a book by Jeremy Strong Fictional c ...

'', as well as an inside spread. In 2006, ''

Maxim Maxim or Maksim may refer to: Entertainment *Maxim (magazine), ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine ** Maxim (Australia), ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition ** Maxim (India), ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition *Maxim ...

'' named Kim number 98 on its annual Hot 100 List. In 2013, she had a leading role in the ABC drama series '' Mistresses''. In 2018, Kim returned to Korean television by headlining the series '' Ms. Ma, Nemesis''. In 2022, she starred as Seon Woo-jin in the Korean remake of Money Heist, '' Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area''. In 2023, she acted as Principal Jina Lim in English-Korean Netflix TV Series, '' XO, Kitty''.

Personal life

Kim married her former manager Park Jeong-hyeok in March 2010 on the island of

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

, after shooting her final scenes for '' Lost''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Accolades

Awards and nominations

Listicles

References

External links

*
Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Yunjin Living people Actresses from Seoul American television actresses Boston University College of Fine Arts alumni Actresses from Staten Island People from Jongno District South Korean emigrants to the United States South Korean television actresses South Korean film actresses 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses 20th-century South Korean actresses 21st-century South Korean actresses American actresses of Korean descent American voice actresses American video game actresses South Korean video game actresses South Korean voice actresses Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni Alumni of the British American Drama Academy 1973 births Best New Actress for Grand Bell Awards winners Best Actress for Grand Bell Awards winners Best Actress Blue Dragon Film Awards winners