Choi Soo-young

Early life and education

Choi was born in Gwangju, Gyeonggi, South Korea, on February 10, 1990. She is the younger sister of Choi Soo-jin, who is a musical theatre actress.

Choi graduated from JeongShin Women's High School in 2009. She went on to major in film studies and graduated from Chung-Ang University in February 2016, receiving a lifetime achievement award at the graduation ceremony. Her fellow Girls' Generation member Kwon Yuri attended the same university.

Life and career

2000–2007: Career beginnings

Choi was initially discovered through an SM Entertainment Open Audition when she was in fifth grade. She later won first place at the 2002 Korea-Japan Ultra Idol Duo Audition and debuted in Japan as a member of Route 0. The duo released three singles before disbanding in 2003.

Choi returned to SM Entertainment and eventually debuted in South Korea as a member of the girl group Girls' Generation in August 2007.

2008–2016: Acting roles and songwriting

Girls' Generation gained significant popularity with the release of their hit single "Gee" in 2009. Choi has said in an interview that she was also interested in acting before debuting as a singer and had failed more than 70 auditions during her pre-debut days.

Aside from Girls' Generation's activities, Choi has participated in various music and acting projects. In the early days, her acting work mostly involved several small roles and guest appearances—these include KBS2's sitcom Unstoppable Marriage (2007), romantic comedy film Hello, Schoolgirl (2008), SBS's drama Oh! My Lady (2010), SBS's Paradise Ranch (2011) and SBS's A Gentleman's Dignity (2012). During this period, musically, she recorded two songs—one trot song titled "KKok" with Girls' Generation member Yuri for the SBS' drama Working Mom, while the other one, "Feeling Only You", was a collaboration with Girls' Generation member Tiffany and South Korean duo The Blue.

Throughout her career, besides contributing her vocals to Girls' Generation's songs, Choi has explored songwriting. She penned the lyrics for three songs: "How Great is Your Love" (2011), "What Do I Do" (2016), and "Sailing (0805)" (2016), while co-writing the song "Baby Maybe" (2013).

In September 2012, she landed her first major acting role in tvN's medical drama The Third Hospital. She was praised by both co-actors Oh Ji Ho and Kim Seung-woo and the viewers were drawn to her emotional scene due to her natural display of emotion. In May 2013, Choi was cast in tvN's romantic comedy drama, Dating Agency: Cyrano. It was a spin-off of the 2010 movie Cyrano Agency. She played a dating expert who works at a dating agency helping people to find their love. Park Ju-yeon from the Hankook Ilbo praised Choi for her lively character portrayal and said that there was not any "overdone emotions commonly appear in acting newcomers".

In September 2014, Choi scored a lead role in MBC's melodrama, My Spring Days. Her character is a terminally ill patient who gets a heart transplant; and meets her donor's husband, played by Kam Woo-sung. This was a breakthrough performance for Choi as she won the "Best Actress in a Miniseries" award at the 2014 MBC Drama Awards and the "Excellence Award for Actress" at the 2015 Korea Drama Awards. She contributed a song to its soundtrack, titled "Wind Flower".

In 2015, Choi starred as the female lead in KBS2's special drama Perfect Sense, which was produced by Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance to help raise public understanding of the disabled. She played a teacher named Ah-yeon who is visually impaired.

In June 2016, Choi starred as the female lead alongside Ma Dong-seok and Seo In-guk in the OCN crime drama Squad 38.

2017–present: Label change and continued acting

In early August 2017, Choi starred as television producer in the JTBC web drama Someone You Might Know. Later in August, she played the female lead in the MBC drama series Man in the Kitchen. In November 2017, Choi joined Echo Global Group after her contract with SM Entertainment ended. With a change of label, her future activities with Girls' Generation remain in discussion.

In 2018, Choi was cast in the Korean-Japanese film Memories of a Dead End and the action comedy film Miss & Mrs. Cops.

In December 2018, Choi released her solo single, "Winter Breath", which is her first song to be released since her departure from SM Entertainment, with the song's music video made available online on the same day. Choi launched her official Twitter and YouTube accounts to commemorate the single's release.

In May 2019, Choi signed with new agency Saram Entertainment. In February 2020, Choi starred in the OCN drama Tell Me What You Saw.

In 2020, Choi starred in JTBC romance drama Run On. Then in 2021, she starred alongside Choi Tae-joon in the Naver TV romantic comedy series So I Married the Anti-fan, based on the manhwa of the same name and appeared in the Netflix original series Move to Heaven.

In 2022, she starred in the KBS2 drama If You Wish Upon Me in the role of a nurse at hospice. Choi participated in Girls' Generation's fifteenth anniversary album Forever 1 (2022), with her co-writing the songs "Seventeen" and "Villain" for the album.

On August 29, 2024, Saram Entertainment announced that Choi would be releasing her Japanese debut maxi single titled "Unstoppable" on October 30.

Personal life

Choi has been dating actor Jung Kyung-ho since 2013.

Philanthropy

Choi has engaged in various philanthropic activities. In 2012, she was appointed as ambassador to Korea's Retinitis Pigmentosa Society along with her bandmates Tiffany, Taeyeon and Seohyun. At the end of that year, she launched a fundraising campaign with cable channel QTV for patients of the disease. Since then, she has continued to serve as ambassador while conducting sponsorship events and supporting the research on treatment of patients.

In 2016, Choi launched a clothing brand called Beaming Effect with the aim to raise awareness for Retinitis Pigmentosa. She has held several charity bazaars throughout the years and donated the proceeds towards research for treatment of the disease. Notably, she held a funding with Kakao, a charity bazaar and a charity concert featuring various artists in 2017.

Choi has also been appointed ambassador to the Korean Day of Overcoming Rare Diseases, the Social Welfare Council and the National Disability Awareness Improvement Campaign. In 2014, she sponsored the operation cost of a person with heart disease after playing the role of someone who received a heart transplant through organ donation in her drama My Spring Days.

Discography

Korean singles

Japanese singles

Filmography

Main article: Choi Soo-young filmography

Ambassadorship

• Korea Social Welfare Council Ambassador for sharing (2022)

Awards and nominations

Listicles

Notes

References

References

1. (October 23, 2024). "【SooYoung】ついに本日10月23日(水)に日本ソロデビューシングルリード曲「Unstoppable」を全世界先行配信開始！【輝きは、止められない。】 | ニュース".
2. Mark Russell. (April 29, 2014). "K-Pop Now!: The Korean Music Revolution". Tuttle Publishing.
3. (September 20, 2012). "SNSD's Sooyoung and her sister love the same man on a TV series". [[Star News (South Korea).
4. link. [[The Chosun Ilbo]]. (February 11, 2009)
5. Kim Soo-hyang. (February 10, 2016). "Stars get B.A. degrees from ChungAng Univ.". [[The Korea Herald]].
6. link. Newsen. (August 28, 2014)
7. link. [[Naver]]. (November 2, 2010)
8. "Route0 Discography".
9. Kim, Do-yeun. (November 2, 2011). "Girls' Generation featured on Yale School of Art website". [[The Korea Times]].
10. Erika Kim. (September 30, 2012). "SNSD′s Sooyoung Wants to Live Her Life in Comfort". [[CJ E&M]].
11. link. [[Star News (South Korea). Star News]]. (November 3, 2007)
12. link. [[The Dong-A Ilbo]]. (November 28, 2008)
13. link. Newsen. (April 12, 2010). Newsen
14. link. [[The Chosun Ilbo]]. (February 1, 2011)
15. (June 7, 2012). "Sooyoung has TV role as K-pop star".
16. link. Newsen. (August 8, 2008). Newsen
17. link. Newsen. (May 12, 2009). Newsen
18. Sung So-young. (October 19, 2011). "With new album, Girls' Generation grows up". [[JoongAng Ilbo]].
19. (May 23, 2016). "Pops in Seoul _ Tiffany(티파니) _ Interview _ Part 1". [[Arirang (TV network).
20. Herman, Tamar. (August 5, 2016). "Girls' Generation Celebrates 9th Anniversary With 'Sailing'".
21. link. [[Herald Corporation]]. (December 31, 2012)
22. (March 20, 2012). "Girls' Generation Sooyoung cast in tvN's medical series".
23. Carla Sunwoo. (August 31, 2012). "Sooyoung hopes to sing for her drama". [[JoongAng Ilbo]].
24. (September 2012). "The 3rd Hospital Interview". The Singles Magazine - September 2012 Issue.
25. link. [[Seoul Broadcasting System. SBS]]. (October 11, 2012)
26. (October 11, 2012). "Girls' Generation's Sooyoung Receiving Recognition For Her Great Acting". [[Soompi]].
27. Lee Sun-min. (May 24, 2013). "Cast gathers to hype "Cyrano"". [[JoongAng Ilbo]].
28. link. [[Hankook Ilbo]]. Park Ju-yeon. (May 29, 2013)
29. Ock Hyun-ju. (July 17, 2014). "Girls' Generation's Sooyoung to be heroine of upcoming drama". [[The Korea Herald]].
30. link. [[Star News (South Korea). Star News]]. (October 30, 2014)
31. (December 4, 2015). "Insurer helps teenager better understand the disabled". [[The Korea Times]].
32. (April 11, 2016). "Sooyoung cast in drama about the disabled".
33. link. [[The Chosun Ilbo]]. (January 18, 2016)
34. (March 3, 2016). "Sooyoung, others to star in new OCN drama".
35. Kim So-yeon. (August 1, 2017). "Sooyoung thinks of her boyfriend's death while filming new drama". [[The Korea Herald]].
36. (May 11, 2017). "Choi Soo-young and On Joo-wan in "Man Who Lays the Table"". Newsen.
37. (October 10, 2017). "Girls' Generation's Tiffany, Sooyoung and Seohyun to leave S.M. Entertainment: sources". [[The Korea Herald]].
38. (November 10, 2017). "Sooyoung of Girls' Generation signs with Daniel Henney's agency". [[Yonhap News Agency]].
39. (March 22, 2018). "Choi Soo-young to star in 'Memories of a Dead End'".
40. (April 3, 2018). "CHOI Soo-young of Girls' Generation Lands First Lead Role".
41. (July 9, 2018). "Casting complete for new film 'Girl Cops'". [[Herald Corporation]].
42. (December 20, 2018). "Sooyoung of Girls' Generation breaks hiatus from music, debuts solo".
43. (December 28, 2018). "Sooyoung looks back on decade with Girls' Generation".
44. link. (May 7, 2019)
45. (October 23, 2019). "Choi Soo-young Confirms Role in "Tell Me What You Saw"". Xportsnews.
46. (June 24, 2020). "JTBC 새 드라마 '런온' 임시완X신세경 특급 조합 완성".
47. (August 13, 2018). "[SBS Star] Sooyoung & Choi Tae Jun Confirmed to a New Drama".
48. Kang Hyo-jin. (April 30, 2021). link
49. link. KBS Entertainment. Park Jaehwan. (July 15, 2022)
50. Strauss, Matthew. (July 25, 2022). "Girls' Generation Announce Release Date for New Album ''Forever 1''". Pitchfork.
51. link. [[Herald POP]]. Kim. Na-yul. (July 28, 2022)
52. link. Newsen. Park. Ah-reum. (August 29, 2024)
53. (January 6, 2014). "Soo-young and Jung Kyung-ho Officially an Item". [[The Chosun Ilbo]].
54. link. [[JoongAng Ilbo]]. (April 16, 2012)
55. link. [[Yonhap News Agency]]. 고현실. 연합뉴스. (December 27, 2012)
56. link. [[Yonhap News Agency]]. (June 6, 2022)
57. Jung Min-kyung. (March 20, 2016). "SNSD Sooyoung holds charity auction". [[The Korea Herald]].
58. link. News1. 강고은. (February 19, 2018)
59. link. [[The Dong-A Ilbo]]. 홍세영. (January 9, 2017)
60. link. [[The Korea Herald]]. 김대우. (May 23, 2017)
61. 이세영. (September 23, 2022). "[K스토리] 배우 최수영이 말하는 나눔의 행복". [[Yonhap News Agency]].
62. 연합뉴스. link. [[Yonhap News Agency]]. (September 7, 2022)
63. link
64. link. [[Yonhap News Agency]]. Ryu Hyo-lim. (July 21, 2022)
65. link. Newsen. Lee Ha-na. (December 19, 2023)
66. link. [[Sports Chosun]]. 이승미. (November 21, 2019)
67. link. [[Marie Claire]] Korea. 김지혜. (October 17, 2022)
68. link. [[Osen (newspaper). OSEN]]. Kim. Bora. (August 10, 2019)
69. link. 디지털 KBS. (December 13, 2022)
70. link. [[Star News (South Korea). Star News]]. (September 9, 2015)
71. link. [[Star News (South Korea). Star News]]. (December 31, 2014)
72. (December 2014). "2014 MBC Drama Award Nominees for "Best Couple"". [[Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation]].
73. link. Newsen. Kim. Ye-eun. (December 31, 2017)
74. link. Xports News. [[Naver]]. Choi Hee-jae. (December 30, 2022)
75. link. [[Osen (newspaper). OSEN]]. Choi Na-young. (December 19, 2022)
76. (December 31, 2013). "SBS 연예대상 '신인상' 수영, 수상 인증샷 "영광의 신인상"". Hankooki.
77. (October 24, 2013). "'2013 SIA' 수영-최진혁, '베스트 케이 스타일' 동반 수상". TV Report.
78. 조선일보. (2021-01-18). "[공식] 영화진흥위원회, 韓배우 200인 선정..'Korean Actors 200' 해외 홍보 나선다".
79. "KOREAN ACTORS 200".