Sooyoung

Biography

Choi Soo-young (Korean: 최수영; born February 10, 1990), known mononymously as Sooyoung, is a South Korean singer, actress, and songwriter. She was a member of the short-lived Korean-Japanese singing duo Route 0, which debuted in Japan in 2002. After returning to South Korea in 2004, Choi eventually became a member of girl group Girls' Generation in 2007, which went on to become one of the best-selling artists in South Korea and one of South Korea's most widely known girl groups worldwide. Apart from her group's activities, Choi has also starred in various television dramas such as The Third Hospital (2012), Dating Agency: Cyrano (2013), My Spring Days (2014), Squad 38 (2016), Man in the Kitchen (2017–2018), Tell Me What You Saw (2020), and most recently in Run On (2021), So I Married the Anti-fan (2021), If You Wish Upon Me (2022), Not Others (2023), Second Shot at Love (2025), and I Dol I (2026). In October 2017, Choi announced that she had left SM Entertainment, although she clarified that she would continue to be a member of Girls' Generation. She joined Echo Global Group and released her first solo single "Winter Breath" in 2018, before moving to Saram Entertainment in 2019. In October 2024, Choi made her solo debut in Japan with the release "Unstoppable", under Japan label Avex Trax.

== 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, leading to her debuting in Japan as a member of Route 0. The duo released three singles before ultimately 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 mainstream popularity with the release of their 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 prior to her debut in Girls' Generation. Aside from Girls' Generation's activities, Choi participated in various music and acting projects. Initially, her acting work mostly involved several small roles and guest appearances, including KBS2's sitcom Unstoppable Marriage (2007), the 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, with another, "Feeling Only You", being a collaboration with Girls' Generation member Tiffany and South Korean duo The Blue. As a member of Girls' Generation, Choi contributed songwriting credits. She penned the lyrics for three Girls' Generation 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. Her performance was praised by her co-actors Oh Ji Ho and Kim Seung-woo. In May 2013, Choi was cast in tvN's romantic comedy drama, Dating Agency: Cyrano, a spin-off of the 2010 movie Cyrano Agency. Park Ju-yeon from the Hankook Ilbo praised Choi for her lively character portrayal, stating that her performance lacked the "overdone emotions [that] commonly appear in acting newcomers".

In September 2014, Choi scored a lead role in MBC's melodrama, My Spring Days, playing a terminally ill patient who receives a heart transplant and meets her donor's husband, played by Kam Woo-sung. For this breakthrough performance, Choi 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 a 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 the conclusion of her exclusive contract with SM Entertainment.