Career
Aspiring to become an actress Uee endeavoured into the showbiz and went through several auditions. Finally she made her debut in the entertainment industry as a singer.
In 2007 she became a member of ‘Five Girls’, a South Korean girl group under the record label ‘Good Entertainment’. Other members of the group were G.NA, Yang Jiwon, Jun Hyoseong and Yubin.
Uee along with other members of ‘Five Girls’ starred in the MTV reality show ‘Diary of Five Girls’. Financial problems of ‘Good Entertainment’ however led to the group’s disbandment prior to its planned debut.
The South Korean girl group ‘After School’ formed by ‘Pledis Entertainment’ announced the joining of Uee in the group in April 2009. The first song of the group that included Uee was the electro dance song ‘Diva’ that released as a digital single on April 9, 2009 and later included in the second single album of the group titled ‘Because of You’ as B-side.
‘Diva’ became a hit and thrived both critically and commercially. The song that was first performed by the group on April 9, 2009, on M! Countdown fetched the group ‘Rookie of the Month’ award for April 2009 at the ‘Cyworld Digital Music Awards’.
Her acting debut also happened in 2009 with the South Korean popular historical drama ‘Queen Seondeok’. She featured as young Mishil in the series that aired on MBC. That year she also featured in the supporting role of Yoo He-yi, a double-faced actress, in the SBS aired South Korean romance comedy musical drama ‘You're Beautiful’.
In October 2009 she became a part of the project group, ‘4Tomorrow’ which also included Gain, Hyuna, and Han Seung-yeon. Its single ‘Dugeundugeun Tomorrow’ released on October 6, 2009.
In 2009 she also paired up with Park Jae-jung and featured in the South Korean reality variety show ‘We Got Married’ in its Season 2. The show that aired on MBC won her Best Newcomer – Female (Variety Show) award at the 9th MBC Entertainment Awards that year.
The list of Forbes Korea’s most hardworking idols in 2009–2010 ranked her at #8.
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She remained co-host of the MBC variety show ‘Night After Night’ in 2010.
She featured in cameo roles in the series’ ‘My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox’ (2010) and ‘All My Love’ (2011) before landing up with lead roles in TV dramas ‘Birdie Buddy’ and ‘Ojakgyo Family’ in 2011.
She garnered acclaim for her portrayal as Baek Ja-eun, a 25 year old college student with a troubled family background, in the family drama ‘Ojakgyo Family’. It also won her Best New Actress award at the 25th KBS Drama Awards in 2011 and Best New Actress (TV) award at the 48th Baeksang Arts Awards in 2012.
On June 21, 2011 she released her first solo single ‘Sok Sok Sok’ that featured JR of NU'EST.
She remained a permanent host of the South Korean music program ‘Music Bank’ from January 2012 to April 2013. Her co-host of the KBS variety show was South Korean actor and singer Lee Jang-woo.
She played the role of Hong Mu-yeon, princess of Yuldo, in the South Korean fantasy period television series ‘Jeon Woo-chi’ that aired on KBS for 24 episodes from November 21, 2012 to February 7, 2013.
In 2013 she participated as a regular cast member in the South Korean reality-variety show ‘Barefooted Friends’. While doing the show on August 19 the song ‘Hero’ co-written by her released on the soundtrack album ‘My Story, My Song’. She performed it at a special concert during the show.
The South Korean weekend romantic drama ‘Golden Rainbow’ that aired on MBC for 41 episodes from November 2, 2013 to March 30, 2014 saw her playing the lead role of Kim Baek-won. The role fetched her Excellence Award, Actress in a Special Project Drama at the 32nd MBC Drama Awards in 2013.
She remained cast member of different other SBS variety shows that include ‘Law of the Jungle in Indian Ocean’ (2014), ‘Fists of Shaolin Temple’ (2015) and ‘Law of the Jungle in New Zealand’ (2017). Of these ‘Fists of Shaolin Temple’ earned her Best Teamwork Award at the 9th SBS Entertainment Awards in 2015.
In 2015 she featured in starring roles in the South Korean TV series ‘Hogu's Love’ and ‘High Society’. She also did a cameo role in the South Korean TV series ‘She Was Pretty’.
Her brilliant portrayal of Kang Hye-soo, a terminally ill striving single mother, in the South Korean weekend melodrama ‘Marriage Contract’ won her Best Actress award at the 29th Grimae Awards and Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Special Project Drama at the 35th MBC Drama Awards in 2016. The series was aired on MBC for 16 episodes from March 5, 2016 to April 24, 2016.
She then essayed one of the main roles of Lee Se-jin in yet another South Korean melodrama ‘Night Light’ that aired on MBC for 20 episodes from November 21, 2016 to January 24, 2017.
On May 31, 2017, her contract with ‘Pledis Entertainment’ ended thus Uee graduated from ‘After School’. Thereafter she signed with ‘Yuleum Entertainment’ in June 2017 which is her present management agency.
Starting from August 9, 2017, she features in the starring role of Kang Soo-jin in the South Korean comedy romance TV series ‘Manhole’ that airs every Wednesday and Thursday at 22:00 (KST) on KBS2.
