Jung Eun-ji


Jung Eun-ji is a South Korean singer, songwriter, actress and voice actress. She is best known as a member of the South Korean girl group Apink. Jung made her acting debut in the coming-of-age drama, Reply 1997 in 2012. She has since had roles in That Winter, the Wind Blows, Trot Lovers, Cheer Up!, and Untouchable in addition to various voice acting roles. She released her debut solo album, Dream, in 2016.

Early life and education

Jung Eun-ji was born as Jung Hye-rim in Haeundae, Busan on August 18, 1993. She has a younger brother named Jung Min-ki. She attended Hapdo Kindergarten, Shinjae Elementary School, Jaesong Girls' Middle School and Hyehwa Girls' High School. In 2004, Jung won the first place prize in the program Exciting Day Enjoyable Day hosted by the KBS network. In November 2010, Jung passed the auditions to become the main singer of Apink. She had not received any professional training prior to joining Apink, and had trained for only two months with the group.

Music career

Apink

In March 2011, Jung was revealed to be the fourth member of Apink via an online video of her covering Jennifer Hudson's "Love You I Do". Jung joined with the rest of the group to film Apink News prior to debut. On April 21, 2011, Jung made her debut as a main vocalist of Apink on Mnet's M Countdown with two songs, "Mollayo" and "Wishlist", from the debut extended play Seven Springs of Apink.

Solo works

Jung has collaborated with various artists for OSTs and promotional songs. For the project A Cube for Season #Green, Jung Eun-ji and fellow Cube artist Yang Yo-seob, sang the duet track "Love Day". In August 2012, Jung recorded two promotional singles, "All For You" and "Our Love Like This" with Reply 1997 co-star Seo In-guk for the drama's soundtrack. "All For You" became one of the best-selling singles of the year on the Gaon Single Chart.
In 2013 and 2014, Jung collaborated with label-mate Huh Gak for duets titled "Short Hair" and "Break Up To Make Up" respectively, which were well-received by listeners and ranked atop major online music charts in Korea. She released her first solo single titled "Its You" for the soundtrack of Three Days.
On April 18, 2016, Jung debuted as a solo artist with the EP Dream, which consisted of 6 songs. The title song "Hopefully Sky" is written by Jung, which recounts the times she spent with her father. "Hopefully Sky" topped eight local music charts, and the album sold 30,000 copies upon release.
In April 2017, Jung released her second EP The Space. The title track, "The Spring" and its accompanying music video was unveiled on 10 April, and debuted within the top ten spots on local music charts. From 3 to 5 June 2017, Jung held her first solo concert titled “Attic” at Ewha Womans University’s Samsung Hall.
On October 18, 2018, Jung released a music video for the single "Being There", from her third EP Hyehwa.
On July 15, 2020, Jung released her fourth EP Simple, along with the title track "AWay".

Acting career

Jung made her acting debut in Reply 1997, a 1990s nostalgic dramedy which became one of the highest-rated Korean series on cable television. She played the female protagonist, a hardcore H.O.T. fan who becomes a TV drama writer. Jung was complimented by critics and audiences for her comedic and emotional acting, which was impressive for a newcomer, as well as for her authentic Busan dialect. The role won her several awards, including the 49th Baeksang Arts Award for Best New TV Actress.
Jung performed in a Korean staging of the Hollywood film-turned-musical Legally Blonde, playing the lead role of Elle Woods. The show ran from November 16, 2012 to March 17, 2013.
Jung was then cast in a supporting role in the 2013 melodrama That Winter, the Wind Blows. For her role, she won Best Performance at the 2nd APAN Star Awards and New Star Award at the SBS Drama Awards.
In 2014, she starred in another musical, the stage adaptation of 2004 series Full House. Afterwards, Jung starred in the romantic comedy series Trot Lovers, which depicts a female singer's struggles to become successful in the old-fashioned musical genre trot.
In 2015, Jung starred as the female lead in KBS2 high school drama Cheer Up! playing the role of a high school student who ranks at the bottom of her class.
In 2017, Jung was cast in JTBC's action melodrama Untouchable which began airing on November 24.
In 2018, Jung was cast in the horror film 0.0MHz, based on the webtoon of the same name.

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

Songwriting and composing credits

Music videos

Filmography

Television dramas

Films

Musical theatre

Variety show

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryNominated workResult
20125th Korea Drama AwardsBest Couple Reply 1997
20125th Style Icon AwardsTop 10 Style Icons Reply 1997
201214th Mnet Asian Music AwardsBest OST "All For You"
Reply 1997
20121st K-Drama Star AwardsBest OST "All For You"
Reply 1997
20121st K-Drama Star AwardsActing Award, ActressReply 1997
20121st K-Drama Star AwardsRising Star AwardReply 1997
20121st K-Drama Star AwardsBest Couple Reply 1997
20124th Melon Music AwardsBest OST "All For You"
Reply 1997
20132nd Gaon Chart K-Pop AwardsSongs of the Year

"All For You"
Reply 1997
201349th Baeksang Arts AwardsBest New TV ActressReply 1997
20132nd APAN Star AwardsBest PerformanceThat Winter, the Wind Blows
2013SBS Drama AwardsBest New ActressThat Winter, the Wind Blows
201416th Seoul International Youth Film FestivalBest Young ActressTrot Lovers
201416th Seoul International Youth Film FestivalBest OST by a Female Artist"It's You"
Three Days
201422nd Korea Culture and Entertainment AwardsExcellence Award, Actress in a DramaTrot Lovers
201416th Mnet Asian Music AwardsBest Collaboration "Break Up to Make Up"
201416th Mnet Asian Music AwardsSong of the Year "Break Up to Make Up"
20146th Melon Music AwardsBest OST"It's You"
Three Days
2014MTV Best of the BestBest Collaboration "Break Up to Make Up"
2014KBS Drama AwardsExcellence Award, Actress in a MiniseriesTrot Lovers
2014KBS Drama AwardsBest New ActressTrot Lovers
2014KBS Drama AwardsPopularity Award, ActressTrot Lovers
201529th KBS Drama AwardsPopularity Award, ActressCheer Up!
2016tvN10 AwardsBest Kiss Reply 1997
2016tvN10 AwardsMade in tvN, Actress in DramaReply 1997
201618th Mnet Asian Music AwardsBest Female ArtistJung Eun-ji
201618th Mnet Asian Music AwardsBest Vocal Performance Female Solo"Hopefully Sky"
201618th Mnet Asian Music AwardsArtist of the YearJung Eun-ji
201618th Mnet Asian Music AwardsSong of the Year"Hopefully Sky"
20168th Melon Music AwardsBest Ballad Award"Hopefully Sky"
20179th Melon Music AwardsTop 10 ArtistsJung Eun-ji
20179th Melon Music AwardsFolk/Blues Song"The Spring"
201719th Mnet Asian Music AwardsBest Vocal Performance Female Solo"The Spring"
201719th Mnet Asian Music AwardsQoo10 Song of the Year"The Spring"
201917th KBS Entertainment AwardsNew DJ of the Year Award