Kim So Hyun

Kim So-hyun (born June 4, 1999) is a South Korean actresswho began her career as a child actress in 2006 and initially gained public attention for playing a villainous young queen-to-be in Moon Embracing the Sun (2012) and a girl who falls into tragedy in Missing You (2013).

She took on her first leading role in teen drama Who Are You, School 2015 (2015) and since then, has starred in musical Page Turner (2016), historical melodrama The Emperor: Owner of the Mask (2017), romantic comedy Radio Romance (2018), television dramas based on Naver Webtoon's Hey Ghost, Let's Fight (2016), Love Alarm (2019–2021) and The Tale of Nokdu (2019) and Korean folklore The Moon Rising River (2021). She was the regular host of MBC's music program Music Core and survival reality show Under Nineteen in 2019.

Kim was dubbed the "Nation's Little Sister", "Queen of Child Actors" and has been recognized as the representative of a prolific child-actress who has solidified her acting skills of various works since childhood,and have established herself as the top Hallyu star. She is popular in Asia and also one of the highest-paid actress in South Korea.

Early life and education

Kim So-hyun was born in Australia. She moved to South Korea in 2003 when she was four years old. She has a younger brother. Her father died when she was 9 years old.

Kim transferred from Hoe-ryong Elementary School in Gyeonggi-do to Towol Elementary School and graduated in February 2012. Then, she graduated from Yongin Munjung Middle School in 2015.She was homeschooled for her secondary education,and passed the high school graduation exam in 2017.The same year, she enrolled at Hanyang University's Department of Theater, through rolling admission. Kim attended the 79th entrance ceremony held at Hanyang University in Seongdong-gu, Seoul on February 28, 2018.

In 2016, according to The Straits Times (a daily English language newspaper in Singapore), Kim So-hyun revealed in an email-interview with the paper why she chose homeschooling instead of enrolling in high school; she said that while managing her acting career, she barely had time to study during her mid-school days (which made her having to take her exams unprepared) and missed out activities with her classmates, and this similarly occurred in her elementary school days. Kim chose homeschooling for her high school education because she did not want to give up her education and career, and with this decision, Kim felt it would allow her to dedicate more time in both filming and studying.

Personal life

Kim suffered with "growing pains" and "transition period" after seven months of filming The Emperor: Owner of the Mask. She felt emptiness in her schedule and feeling uncomfortable even though she was resting.

In January 2018, the Pyeongchang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games (POCOG) chose Kim and Yoo Seong-min as the National Representative of Honorary Smile to represent Korea's smile and kindness.