The breakthrough yearThe year she turned 21, she was named Miss Korea at the 32nd pageant and went straight on to host KBS Entertainment Weekly.
In 1990, the year she turned 23, she played a female TV anchor in Who Saw the Dragon’s Claws?, a film by Kang Woo-suk. In 1991 she won Best New Actress at the Grand Bell Awards for the film. In 1992 she took the stage as Portia in the play The Merchant of Venice.
In 1996, the year she turned 29, she married a businessman who is not in the entertainment industry. In 1998 the drama The King and the Queen began. In 2003 she played Mu-bi in the KBS1 drama Age of Warriors. In 2005 she appeared in the play Art.
In 2008, the year she turned 41, she appeared in the play Melodrama, and at the end of that year she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the SBS Drama Awards for Iljimae. In 2010 she played Wol-mae in the film The Servant.
In 2012, the year she turned 45, she played Seo Ji-soo in the SBS drama The Chaser. In 2013 she played Baek Do-kyung in King of Ambition, and in October she appeared as Han Ki-ae in The Heirs. In 2014 she played a female detective for the first time since her debut in the film The Target, and she also appeared in the play Miss France. In 2015 she took a lead role in the MBC drama Flower of Queen.
In 2016, the year she turned 49, she received a Top 10 Stars Award at the SBS Drama Awards for Mrs. Cop 2. In 2018 she became head judge of the Miss Korea pageant, and her film Believer passed 5 million admissions. In 2019 she returned to the stage after five years in the play Misery. In 2020 she played Seo-yeon’s mother in the Netflix film The Call.
In 2024, the year she turned 57, she appeared in the Netflix film My Name Is Loh Kiwan, and in October she began A Virtuous Business on JTBC. In 2025 she made a special appearance in Netflix’s When Life Gives You Tangerines and took the stage in the play Rosetta. In 2026 she attended the press conference for the play The Glass Menagerie, and the film Reawaken Man: The Red opened.
Kim Sung-ryung (born Feb 8, 1967) became known when she was named Miss Korea at the 32nd pageant in 1988, the year she turned 21. She won Best New Actress at the Grand Bell Awards on Mar 12, 1991, the year she turned 24, and The Heirs premiered on Oct 9, 2013, the year she turned 46.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.