The year she turned 18, she was chosen as Sun, one of the top prizes at the Miss Korea pageant. In 1990, she appeared in the KBS drama Love on a Jujube Tree. In 1991, she played Ahn Myeong-ji in MBC’s Eyes of Dawn and became an MC of KBS 2TV’s Saturday March. In 1992, she appeared in SBS’s A Love Without Fear.
The breakthrough yearThe year she turned 22, she played the eldest daughter, Young-seo, in MBC’s weekend drama My Mother’s Sea and became known. Oh My News writes that she rose to become a star actress with this drama. It was four years after her debut.
In 1994, she was cast as Yoon Hye-rin in an SBS big-budget drama, and in July she announced that she would marry and retire. Yonhap News Agency describes her that year as a top star of home television. In 1995, she played Yoon Hye-rin in SBS’s Sandglass. Edaily and Sports Chosun write that she rose to stardom overnight with this drama. She married that May.
The year she turned 32, she divorced. In 2005, she returned after 10 years with Spring Day. In 2006, she appeared on the big screen for the first time, in the film Woman on the Beach. In 2007, she played the detective Cha Soo-kyung in MBC’s H.I.T.
In 2009, she won the grand prize at the MBC Drama Awards for Mishil in Queen Seondeok. The next year she won the grand prize at the SBS Drama Awards for Big Thing. In 2013, she played Ma Yeo-jin in MBC’s The Queen’s Classroom. In 2016, she appeared in tvN’s Dear My Friends. In 2019, she appeared in KBS2’s My Lawyer, Mr. Jo 2.
The year she turned 52, she shared the role of Kim Mo-mi in Netflix’s Mask Girl. In 2024, she appeared on You Quiz on the Block and opened a YouTube channel. In December, her health worsened and she missed the press conference for Namib.
In January 2025, Namib ended, and in September her SBS drama Queen Mantis began airing. In 2026, she renewed her contract with her agency.
Go Hyun-jung (born Mar 2, 1971) entered show business in 1989, the year she turned 18, when she was chosen as Sun, one of the top prizes at the Miss Korea pageant, and became known through the MBC drama My Mother’s Sea, which began on May 15, 1993, the year she turned 22. She played Yoon Hye-rin in SBS’s Sandglass in 1995, the year she turned 24, and won her first grand prize at a broadcaster’s year-end drama awards in 2009, the year she turned 38.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.
Several articles write that she entered show business after being chosen as Sun, one of the contest’s top prizes, at the Miss Korea pageant.
Source 01 · TenAsia (Korean) · Go Hyun-jung’s recent news · opens in a new tabSource 02 · MyDaily (Korean) · Go Hyun-jung’s recent news · opens in a new tab The date of the pageant was not confirmed in news reports. Shin Dong-a gives her 1990 drama appearance as her debut.A Shin Dong-a interview describes this drama as her debut work in show business.
Source 03 · Shin Dong-a (Korean) · Go Hyun-jung interview · opens in a new tab The air date was not confirmed.Played Ahn Myeong-ji in MBC’s special drama for its 30th anniversary. Edaily writes that she made her presence felt as an actress in this work.
Source 04 · Edaily (Korean) · Director Kim Jong-hak and his actors · opens in a new tab The air date was not confirmed.Was chosen as host together with Seo Jeong-min.
Source 06 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Hosts of TV programs replaced · opens in a new tab Based on Yonhap News Agency’s report on the show’s revamp (the Oct. 11 article); the first day she hosted was not confirmed.Yonhap News Agency gives the rating for this drama as 27.7%.
Source 05 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Why they are treated as top stars · opens in a new tab The air date was not confirmed.Appeared with Kim Hye-ja and Ko So-young and played the eldest daughter, Young-seo. Oh My News writes that she rose to become a star actress with this drama, and Yonhap News Agency gives the rating as 37.9%.
Yonhap News Agency reported that she was cast as Yoon Hye-rin, the daughter of a casino boss, in an SBS big-budget drama with Park Sang-won and Choi Min-soo.
Source 07 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Big-budget drama production · opens in a new tabAnnounced her marriage to a businessman and said she would retire from show business after the wedding.
Source 08 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Marriage news on air · opens in a new tab The article does not give the date of the press conference. The article is dated July 18.Edaily and Sports Chosun write that she rose to stardom overnight with this drama, and Newsis writes that she joined the ranks of top stars. Yonhap News Agency reported that the average household rating passed 50% after 17 episodes.
Source 09 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · A storm expected early in the year · opens in a new tabSource 10 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · A storm from the first episode · opens in a new tabSource 11 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Sketch of the last shoot · opens in a new tabSource 04 · Edaily (Korean) · Director Kim Jong-hak and his actors · opens in a new tabSource 13 · Sports Chosun (Korean) · Go Hyun-jung’s recent news · opens in a new tabSource 15 · Newsis (Korean) · Top 10 entertainment news · opens in a new tabSource 14 · Maeil Business Newspaper (Korean) · Go Hyun-jung on a talk show · opens in a new tabIt aired for six weeks and ended on Feb. 16.
Source 12 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Appears in the Dongseo Securities president’s office · opens in a new tabMarried a businessman at the Jeonuhoegwan hall of the War Memorial of Korea in Seoul.
Source 16 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Actress Go Hyun-jung marries · opens in a new tabFiled for divorce mediation at the Seoul Family Court, and the divorce was settled by mediation the same day, after 8 years and 6 months of marriage.
Source 17 · Maeil Business Newspaper (Korean) · Go Hyun-jung divorce · opens in a new tabSource 15 · Newsis (Korean) · Top 10 entertainment news · opens in a new tabIt was her comeback drama after 10 years, since Sandglass.
Source 18 · MyDaily (Korean) · Broadcasters’ landscape · opens in a new tabPlayed Mun-suk in Hong Sang-soo’s film, her first time on the big screen. OSEN reported that she would receive the Best New Actress award from the Busan Film Critics Association for it.
Source 19 · OSEN (Korean) · Busan Film Critics Association Awards · opens in a new tabSource 20 · Star News (Korean) · Ko So-young and Go Hyun-jung’s comic U-turn · opens in a new tabPlayed Cha Soo-kyung, a detective in a violent crimes unit.
Source 21 · Star News (Korean) · Gummy’s “Pain” · opens in a new tabSource 05 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Why they are treated as top stars · opens in a new tabWon the grand prize for playing Mishil. In her acceptance speech she said she had been nervous because it was her first historical drama.
Source 23 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · 2009 MBC Drama Awards · opens in a new tabSource 22 · NoCut News (Korean) · First historical drama · opens in a new tabWon the grand prize for playing President Seo Hye-rim in Big Thing. The year before she had won the grand prize at MBC.
Source 24 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Year-end awards of the three broadcasters · opens in a new tabSource 23 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · 2009 MBC Drama Awards · opens in a new tabPlayed Ma Yeo-jin.
Source 25 · Asia Economy (Korean) · The Queen’s Classroom · opens in a new tabPlayed Park Wan, a freelance translator.
Source 26 · News1 (Korean) · Dear My Friends · opens in a new tabThe final episode of the drama, in which she played Lee Ja-gyeong, aired.
Source 27 · MK Sports (Korean) · My Lawyer, Mr. Jo 2 finale · opens in a new tabGo Hyun-jung, Nana and the newcomer Lee Han-byul shared the role of Kim Mo-mi. Yonhap News Agency reported that two weeks after release it ranked first in Netflix’s weekly viewing hours for non-English TV.
Source 29 · TV Report (Korean) · Mask Girl pictorial · opens in a new tabSource 28 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Mask Girl at No. 1 · opens in a new tabSports World writes that she opened a YouTube channel in 2024.
Source 31 · Sports World (Korean) · Actresses on YouTube · opens in a new tab The opening date was not confirmed.Appeared on the variety show.
Source 30 · TVDaily (Korean) · Thoughts after You Quiz on the Block · opens in a new tabHer health worsened and she did not attend. She later said on social media that she had had surgery.
Source 32 · News1 (Korean) · Sandglass filming locations · opens in a new tabThe 12-episode series, in which she played the fired star producer Kang Soo-hyun, came to an end.
Source 33 · The FACT (Korean) · Namib finale · opens in a new tabPlayed the serial killer Jung Yi-shin. It ended with episode 8 on Sept. 27, and its highest rating was 7.5% (episode 4).
Source 34 · OSEN (Korean) · Queen Mantis appearance fee · opens in a new tabHer agency announced the renewal.
Source 35 · Newsen (Korean) · Agency contract renewal · opens in a new tabEND OF SELECTED RECORDSSelected records, 1989–2026 · not a complete list of work. “Key moment” is an editorial label, not a measure of success.
What did they do, and at what age?
AgeTrail lines up the key moments of a life by age.
Debut and breakthrough are marked separately, and every record has a source.
Film & TV · South Korea
Mar 2, 1971 —
Ages are counted from the birth year 1971: the year of the event minus 1971, birthdays aside. “Key moment” labels and the connecting story are AgeTrail's editorial reading.
Fact-checked: 2026.10.02 · An independent archive, not affiliated with the person or their agency.