Jung Ho-yeon

Biography:

Jung Ho-yeon, born on June 23, 1994, is a South Korean supermodel and actress. She started her career as a freelance model in 2010 and walked in Seoul Fashion Week for two years. In 2013, she participated in the fourth season of Korea’s Next Top Model and finished as the runner-up. Her “fiery” red hair became her signature look after her international debut at New York Fashion Week. In 2016, she was an exclusive model for Louis Vuitton and later became the brand’s global ambassador in 2021.

Jung made her acting debut in 2021 in the Netflix series Squid Game, where she played Kang Sae-byeok. Her performance gained her worldwide recognition and critical acclaim as the show’s breakout star. She won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. In 2024, she received a state honor, the Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism’s Commendation, at the Korean Popular Culture and Arts Awards.

Jung began modeling at 16 and initially worked without an agency. She later signed with ESteem Models in 2012 and competed in Korea’s Next Top Model in 2013. In 2014, she appeared in a music video for Kim Yeon-woo’s song “Move” and was featured in Korean magazines like Vogue, Elle, and W. In 2016, she signed with The Society Management, Elite Model Management, and Nomad Management, leaving South Korea to pursue an international modeling career.

She made her international runway debut at New York Fashion Week in 2016, walking for Opening Ceremony’s Spring/Summer 2017 collection. She later walked for major brands such as Marc Jacobs, Chanel, Fendi, and Max Mara. That same year, she debuted at Paris Fashion Week as an exclusive model for Louis Vuitton. By 2018, Models.com ranked her among the top 50 models, and she won the Asian Star Award at the 2019 Asian Model Awards.

Throughout her modeling career, Jung worked with top fashion houses, including Burberry, Miu Miu, Gucci, and Lanvin. She appeared in campaigns for Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermès, and Bottega Veneta and graced the covers of Vogue Korea, Vogue Japan, and Harper’s Bazaar Korea. In 2021, she became the global house ambassador for Louis Vuitton and collaborated with Adidas Originals. In 2022, she became a face of Chanel’s N°1 de Chanel and was listed as a “New Super” by Models.com.

Jung transitioned to acting due to the short career span of modeling. While modeling internationally, she periodically returned to South Korea for acting lessons. She also studied English to improve her acting skills. In January 2020, she signed with Saram Entertainment and later auditioned for Squid Game while in New York for Fashion Week. Director Hwang Dong-hyuk cast her in the role after an in-person audition in South Korea. To prepare for the character of Kang Sae-byeok, a North Korean defector, she studied the Hamgyŏng dialect, watched documentaries, trained in martial arts, and kept a diary from her character’s perspective.

Her portrayal of Sae-byeok made her a fan favorite, and she was widely regarded as the breakout star of Squid Game. She won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series, making her the second actress of Asian and Korean descent to receive an individual SAG Award nomination. Along with co-star Lee Jung-jae, she made history as part of the first non-English language series to win at the SAG Awards. In November 2021, she signed with Creative Artists Agency in the United States.

She appeared in The Weeknd’s 2022 music video “Out of Time” and in two NewJeans music videos in 2023. In 2024, she had a cameo in the comedy mystery Chicken Nugget and appeared in Alfonso Cuarón’s thriller series Disclaimer. She is set to make her feature film debut in A24’s The Governesses and has joined the cast of Na Hong-jin’s upcoming film Hope. In January 2025, she signed with a new agency, BH Entertainment.

Jung became well-known in the fashion industry as the “red-haired Asian” and was recognized as one of Seoul’s top modeling talents. In 2021, she was called the “world’s current ‘It’ girl” by Vulture. That same year, she became the most-followed South Korean actress on Instagram, surpassing Lee Sung-kyung and Song Hye-kyo. As of November 2023, she has over 20 million Instagram followers.

She began dating actor Lee Dong-hwi in 2015. On November 26, 2024, both their agencies announced that they had decided to part ways after nine years of dating.