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South Korean actress
A.K.A.
Kim Yoo-jin, Kim Yoojin, Kim Yoo Jin, Kim Yu-jin, Kim Yujin, Kim Yu Jin, 유진, 김유진, 김 유진
Gender:
Female
Birth:
3 March 1981(Seoul, Joseon, South Korea)
Star sign:
Genres:
Instruments:
Education:
Korea University
Seongbuk District, Seoul, South Korea
John F. Kennedy High School
Tumon, Tamuning, USA
Family:
Spouse(s):
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The details
Biography

Introduction

Kim Yoo-jin (Korean: 김유진; born March 3, 1981), known professionally as Eugene, is a South Korean singer and actress. She is best known as a former member of the girl group S.E.S., which went on to become one of South Korea's best-selling artists. Following the group's disbandment in 2002, she subsequently left SM Entertainment and released two solo studio albums.

As an actress, Eugene has participated in various television dramas and movies, making her acting debut in KBS2 Loving You (2002). Her other notable roles include in Save the Last Dance for Me (2004), Wonderful Life (2005), Bread, Love and Dreams (2010), A Hundred Year Legacy (2013), All About My Mom (2015) and The Penthouse: War in Life (2020–2021).

Early life

Eugene was born in Seoul, South Korea. With the suggestion of her grandfather, who settled down in Guam, her family immigrated to Guam after she finished the first semester of 5th grade elementary school. She attended Agueda I. Johnston Middle School from October 1992 until June 1995, and John F. Kennedy High School from June until September 1996. She returned to Korea with her mother and younger sister to finish high school, and eventually graduated from Korea Kent Foreign School, Seoul in June 1999. At high school, more than 80% of her subjects were A credits. In elementary school, only 23 out of 24 subjects were awarded. In middle school, almost all her subjects were excellent.

Career

S.E.S.

Eugene made her debut with S.E.S. in 1997. S.E.S enjoyed tremendous success, becoming the top-selling K-pop girl group during their era. The group disbanded at the end of 2002 after Bada and Eugene parted ways from SM Entertainment, while Shoo stayed with SM Entertainment until 2006.

On May 28, 2016, Eugene with S.E.S. members Bada and Shoo attended a charity event, Green Heart Bazaar. In October 2016, Eugene along with Bada and Shoo re-formed S.E.S. to celebrate their 20th anniversary since the debut of the group. They started their project of the 20th anniversary debut with released digital single "Love[Story]", a remake of their 1999 single "Love", through SM Entertainment's digital project SM Station on November 28 and its music video released on December 29.

In early December 2016, they aired their ten episode reality show Remember, I'm Your S.E.S., which broadcast through mobile app Oksusu. To accompany their 20th anniversary debut, they held a concert, Remember, the Day, on December 30 and 31 at Sejong University's Daeyang Hall in Seoul.

On January 2, the special album of their 20th anniversary debut Remember was released. The album consists of double lead singles. "Remember" was digitally released on January 1 and "Paradise" was released along with the album on January 2. They held a fanmeet as their last project of 20th anniversary debut called I Will Be There, Waiting For You on March 1, 2017.

Solo career

Eugene
Eugene at the 2010 KBS Drama Awards

After S.E.S. disbanded in late 2002, Kim released two solo albums, 'My True Style' and '810303' . Her first album sold nearly 65,000 records and had one hit ballad, "The Best" which included bonus tracks, "Jesus loves me", in which she handwritten the lyrics to this special mashup. She had also previously released a single, " Shout to the Lord " in 2001 under a collaborative Christian album "The Gift" . Besides releasing solo albums, she also starred in four Korean dramas: Loving You, Save The Last Dance for Me, Wonderful Life, and Love Truly.

Eugene made her theater debut in the musical adaptation of the film Innocent Steps and her film debut in Unstoppable Marriage. After taking on the lead roles in the dramas One Mom and Three Dads, and Creating Destiny, Eugene then starred in the television series King of Baking, Kim Takgu, which was a huge hit and earned "national drama" status.

In 2007 Eugene took over from Lee Hyori as one of the co-hosts of the variety show Happy Together Friends, until the show was overhauled for a third season. After the success of her previous program Eugene's Makeup Diary, cable style network O'live again chose her as the host of new show Get It Beauty which began airing in July 2010.

Eugene has authored two books: Eugene's Beauty Secrets and Eugene's Get It Beauty. She is also the co-president of the clothing brand byMOMO.

In 2012 she became the host of season 3 of MBC's revamped flagship amateur singing competition show The Great Birth. Her next leading role was in the 2013 weekend family drama A Hundred Year Legacy, which reached ratings of over 30 percent. She then starred in two more family dramas, Can We Fall in Love, Again? and All About My Mom.

On December 17, 2018, it was announced that Eugene had signed with INN Company after deciding not to renew her contract with C9 Entertainment.

In 2020, she appeared in TV series The Penthouse: War in Life aired on SBS TV from October 26.

In 2022, Eugene will attend a fan sign event in front of the Lotte World Mall Jamsil store from 7pm on the 12th.

Personal life

On May 11, 2011, Eugene announced she would be married to Ki Tae-young, her leading man in the 2009 TV series Creating Destiny. Their wedding was held at the Seoul Central Church in Anyang, Gyeonggi-do, on July 23, 2011. They were the first couple featured on Super Couple Diary, a reality show filming the daily married life of celebrity couples. Eugene gave birth to their first child, a daughter named Lohee on April 12, 2015. She also gave birth to another girl, Lorin, on August 18, 2018.

After the sinking of the MV Sewol, fans of Eugene began to doubt her belief in the Evangelical Baptist Church of Korea. She explained she is not a believer of the Evangelical Baptist Church, but in the Korean Christianity Baptist Church which separated from the Evangelical Baptist Church 32 years ago.

Discography

Studio albums

Title Album details Peak
chart
positions
Sales

My True Style...
  • Released: May 30, 2003
  • Label: F&J Entertainment
  • Formats: CD, digital download
Track listing
  1. The Best
  2. Cha Cha (차 차)
  3. Rainy Day
  4. You And I
  5. Bad Boy
  6. Feel Me
  7. Good-Bye (사랑인가요)
  8. Sweet Babe
  9. Lovely Day
  10. Stay With Me
  11. Regret (후회)
  12. My Best Friend
  13. 늘 처음처럼 (Loving You)
  14. 기억해요 (Remember Me) (Bonus Track)
  15. Jesus Loves Me (Bonus Track)
10
  • KOR: 54,270
810303
  • Released: August 18, 2004
  • Label: Kakao M
  • Formats: CD, digital download
Track listing
  1. Wuthering Heights (폭풍의 언덕)
  2. Windy
  3. I'm sorry.. I'm sorry..(미안한건..서러운건..)
  4. Pleeez
  5. Happy Time
  6. Pandora
  7. Late Love (늦은 사랑)
  8. Relax
  9. Remote Control
  10. My Dream
  11. How About You? (넌 어떠니?)
  12. A Parting Shot (이별이 내게 주는 것)
  13. Windy (Remix)
  14. 810303 (To Be Continued)
9
  • KOR: 25,245

Soundtrack contributions

Title Year Peak positions Album

"Narration" (with Park Yong-ha) 2002 Loving You OST
"Love Montage" (with Park Yong-ha)
"Salang...geu Cheosneukkim" (사랑...그 첫느낌) (with Park Yong-ha)
"Dalaeui Tema (Chorus Ver.)" (다래의 테마)
"My Dream" 2004 Save the Last Dance for Me OST
"Like Candy" (캔디처럼) 2006 I Really Really Like You OST
"I like you" (좋아해) (duet with Mr. Burn)
"Jeongseon Arirang" (정선 아리랑)
"Romantic Christmas" (로맨틱 크리스마스) (duet with Lee Sun-kyun) 2008 Romantic Island Christmas story OST
"Plastic syndrome" (플라스틱 신드롬) Romantic Island OST
"Travel Memories" (추억여행)

Participation in albums

Title Year Peak positions Album

"Shout to the Lord" (내 구주 예수님) 2001 The Gift
"Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer" 2004 Christmas With Pfull

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role
2007 Unstoppable Marriage Park Eun-ho
2008 Heartbreak Library Jo Eun-soo
Romantic Island Yoo Ga-young
2009 Yoga Hakwon Hyo-jung
2020 Paper Flower Go Eun-sook

Television series

Year Title Role Notes
2002 Loving You Jin Da-rae
2004 Save the Last Dance for Me Ji Eun-soo
2005 Wonderful Life Jung Se-jin
2006 I Really Really Like You Yeo Bong-soon
2008 One Mom and Three Dads Song Na-young
2009 Creating Destiny Han Sang-eun
2010 King of Baking, Kim Takgu Shin Yoo-kyung
2011 Drama Special Princess Hwapyung Episode: "Princess Hwapyung's Weight Loss"
2012 Ohlala Couple Min-young Cameo appearance (Ep. 2)
2013 A Hundred Year Legacy Min Chae-won
2014 Can We Fall in Love, Again? Yoon Jung-wan
2015 All About My Mom Lee Jin-ae
2020–2021 The Penthouse: War in Life Oh Yoon-hee

Television show

Year Title Notes
2002 Saturday is Coming Host
2003 Nam Hui-seok and Eugene's Love Story
2005 Happy Together Friends
2009 Living Beauty - Eugene's Makeup Diary, Season 1
2012 Super Couple Diary
The Great Birth - Season 3
2010–2014 O'live TV Get It Beauty
2016 The Return of Superman Ep 114 - Ep 210
2022 The Battle for Move-in: Penthouse Tenant
Oh! My Wedding Wedding planner
Hot Goodbye Host

Web shows

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2022 Half of Me Narrator Good Neighbors YouTube channel

Hosting

Year title Notes
2023 30th Hanteo Music Awards with Shin Dong-yup

Musical theatre

Year Title Role
2007 Innocent Steps Chae-rin

Books

  • Eugene's Beauty Secrets (2009)
  • Eugene's Get It Beauty (2011)

Awards and nominations

Award ceremony Year Category Nominee / work Result Ref.
APAN Star Awards 2013 Excellence Award, Actress A Hundred Year Legacy Nominated
KBS Drama Awards 2002 Best New Actress Loving You Nominated
Popularity Award Won
2010 Excellence Award, Actress in a Serial Drama King of Baking, Kim Takgu Won
2011 Best Actress in a One-Act/Special/Short Drama Princess Hwapyung's Weight Loss Won
2015 Excellence Award, Actress in a Serial Drama All About My Mom Won
Best Couple Award Eugene
(All About My Mom)
Nominated
Netizen Award, Actress All About My Mom Nominated
Korea Best Dresser Awards 1999 Best Dressed, Female Singer Eugene Won
Korea Drama Awards 2013 Excellence Award, Actress A Hundred Year Legacy Nominated
Korea Visual Arts Festival 2004 Photogenic Award, Singer Eugene Won
MBC Drama Awards 2005 Excellence Award, Actress Wonderful Life Nominated
Popularity Award Nominated
2013 Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Serial Drama A Hundred Year Legacy Nominated
Best Couple Award Eugene
(A Hundred Year Legacy)
Nominated
Popularity Award A Hundred Year Legacy Nominated
Mnet KM Music Festival 2005 PD's Choice Special Award Eugene Won
SBS Drama Awards 2004 Top Excellence Award, Actress Save the Last Dance for Me Nominated
New Star Award Won
2020 Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Mid-Length Drama The Penthouse: War in Life Won
2021 Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries Genre/Fantasy Drama The Penthouse: War in Life 2 and 3 Nominated
Seoul International Drama Awards 2021 Outstanding Korean Actress The Penthouse: War in Life Nominated