After about seven years as a dance-sport athlete from around age 15, she turned to comedy, and in 2012, the year she turned 20, she won Gag King 2 on SBS’s Star King. In 2014 she passed the Comedy Big League audition after failing KBS’s open recruitment four times, and debuted. The same year she won Best New Comedienne at the Korea Culture and Entertainment Awards. In 2018 she appeared on tvN’s The Great Escape as Gu Ha-ri.
The breakthrough yearThe year she turned 29, she signed with Cube Entertainment in March, and in June an interview with “Director Yoo” Yoo Jae-suk on Hangout with Yoo made her name known, seven years after her debut. In October she showed her alter ego Gil Eun-ji on I Live Alone, and in December she won the Variety Star award at the same Korea Culture and Entertainment Awards.
In 2022 she appeared on tvN’s Earth Arcade with Mimi, Lee Young-ji and An Yu-jin. In 2023 she won Best Female Variety Performer in TV at the Baeksang Arts Awards and became the DJ of KBS’s Music Plaza. At the end of the year she also won DJ of the Year at the KBS Entertainment Awards.
In 2024 she hosted SBS Plus’s Real Dating Lab: Poisoned Apple and appeared in Netflix’s Agents of Mystery and TV Chosun’s Mr. Trot 3. In 2025 she appeared in Duel! Paeng Bong Paeng Bong and Earth Arcade 3 in quick succession, and in November she became an MC of Poisoned Apple season 2.
In 2026 she left Cube Entertainment, signed with Black Paper and left Music Plaza after three years. That year she also began the spin-off Space Rice Cake Shop.
Lee Eun-ji (born Jan 16, 1992) debuted in 2014, the year she turned 22, on tvN’s Comedy Big League, and became known on Jun 5, 2021, the year she turned 29, when she appeared in the interview with “Director Yoo” on MBC’s Hangout with Yoo, after seven years of obscurity since her debut. She won Best Female Variety Performer in TV at the Baeksang Arts Awards in 2023, the year she turned 31.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.
After about seven years as a dance-sport athlete from age 15, she turned to comedy. On Star King’s Gag King 2 segment she won with the “Kkap Musical,” with the judges’ top score.
Source 01 · OSEN (Korean) · Wins Gag King 2 · opens in a new tabSource 02 · Newsen (Korean) · Gag King final winner · opens in a new tabSource 03 · Sisun News (Korean) · Gil Eun-ji’s rise · opens in a new tabAfter failing the final stage of KBS’s comedian open recruitment four times, she passed the Comedy Big League rookie audition. She first aired as the Latin dancer “Luna” in the segment Cobic Train.
Source 03 · Sisun News (Korean) · Gil Eun-ji’s rise · opens in a new tabSource 04 · MBN (Korean) · Cube exclusive contract · opens in a new tabSource 06 · Sports Kyunghyang (Korean) · Failing KBS open recruitment four times · opens in a new tabWon the Best New Comedienne award in the year of her debut.
Source 11 · Xportsnews (Korean) · Variety Star award at the Culture and Entertainment Awards · opens in a new tab She mentioned the win herself in her 2021 Variety Star acceptance. The ceremony date could not be confirmed.Appeared as Gu Ha-ri among the cast escaping from Taeyang Girls’ High School.
Source 12 · Bridge Economy (Korean) · The Great Escape’s Gu Ha-ri · opens in a new tabStarted a new segment with a retro theme alongside Jang Do-yeon, Heo An-na, Lee Eun-hyung and Moon Se-yoon.
Source 25 · Sporbiz (Korean) · Comedy Big League third-quarter revamp · opens in a new tabIntroduced with Kim Seung-hye, Shin Gyu-jin, Ha Jun-su and Kim Hae-jun as five new variety faces recommended by popular comedians.
Source 27 · Hankyung (Korean) · Hangout with Yoo’s new variety faces · opens in a new tabSource 04 · MBN (Korean) · Cube exclusive contract · opens in a new tabHer new agency said she had earned the epithet “national cup noodle” as part of the “Super Cha couple.”
Source 04 · MBN (Korean) · Cube exclusive contract · opens in a new tabSource 05 · MK Sports (Korean) · Cube exclusive contract · opens in a new tabIntroduced herself as an interviewee born in 1992 and worked with Yoo Jae-suk. JTBC wrote that after seven years of obscurity she began to be noticed with this appearance in her eighth year since debut.
“Gil Eun-ji” is a dance-queen character born on the YouTube content 05 Class Is Back, which portrays the trends of 2005.
Source 10 · Dailian (Korean) · Gil Eun-ji on I Live Alone · opens in a new tabWon the Variety Star award seven years after winning Best New Comedienne at the same ceremony in the year of her debut, 2014.
Source 11 · Xportsnews (Korean) · Variety Star award at the Culture and Entertainment Awards · opens in a new tabPicked by producer Na Young-seok, she appeared with Mimi, Lee Young-ji and An Yu-jin.
Source 26 · Newsis (Korean) · Earth Arcade experience zone · opens in a new tabSource 09 · Oh My Star (Korean) · The talent Hangout with Yoo missed · opens in a new tabSource 13 · Dailian (Korean) · Mimi’s my way · opens in a new tabSource 14 · TF Focus (Korean) · Lee Eun-ji’s presence · opens in a new tabHer selection was announced on the 12th, and she did her first broadcast at noon on the 24th.
Source 16 · Raon News (Korean) · Picked as Music Plaza DJ · opens in a new tabIt came nine years after her debut.
Source 15 · iMBC Entertainment (Korean) · Baeksang variety award acceptance · opens in a new tabAppeared in season 2 with Mimi, Lee Young-ji and An Yu-jin.
Source 28 · JTBC (Korean) · Earth Arcade 2 going well · opens in a new tabBecame the MC of Mnet’s reboot of the blind-date show, as its first host.
Source 17 · News1 (Korean) · MC of Dizzying Blind Date Z · opens in a new tabShared the award with Young K of DAY6.
Source 18 · Joy News 24 (Korean) · KBS Entertainment Awards DJ of the Year · opens in a new tabHosted season 1 with Jun Hyun-moo and Yang Se-chan.
Source 29 · Bridge Economy (Korean) · Poisoned Apple season 2 confirmed · opens in a new tabSource 30 · Topstar News (Korean) · Poisoned Apple season 2 preview · opens in a new tab The first broadcast date could not be confirmed.Appeared with Lee Yong-jin, John Park, Hyeri, Kim Do-hoon and Karina in a new detective variety show by producer Jung Jong-yeon.
Source 19 · Star News (Korean) · Agents of Mystery press conference · opens in a new tab The date is that of the press conference.Took part as a “national master” with Jang Yoon-jeong, Kim Yeon-ja, Jin Sung, Joo Young-hoon and others.
Source 20 · Star News (Korean) · Mr. Trot 3 press conference · opens in a new tabAppeared as a part-timer at Lee Bong-won’s restaurant Bongsikdang. She joined in a hurry ten days before leaving the country, replacing Park Mi-sun.
Source 14 · TF Focus (Korean) · Lee Eun-ji’s presence · opens in a new tabTook part in season 3 with Mimi, Lee Young-ji and An Yu-jin.
Source 21 · Sports Seoul (Korean) · Earth Arcade 3 preview · opens in a new tabServed as a studio MC with Jun Hyun-moo, Yang Se-chan, Yoon Tae-jin and Heo Young-ji.
Source 31 · TV Report (Korean) · Poisoned Apple season 2 first episode · opens in a new tabSource 29 · Bridge Economy (Korean) · Poisoned Apple season 2 confirmed · opens in a new tabLeft Cube Entertainment, where she had been for five years, and moved to Black Paper, founded by Yoo Byung-jae and Yoo Gyu-seon.
Source 22 · MK Sports (Korean) · Black Paper exclusive contract · opens in a new tabSource 23 · TV Report (Korean) · Leaves Music Plaza · opens in a new tabLeft the radio show she had hosted for three years. Paul Kim is her successor.
Source 23 · TV Report (Korean) · Leaves Music Plaza · opens in a new tabAs a penalty for failing the escape room in Earth Arcade 2, she started a part-time job at a rice cake shop with Mimi, Lee Young-ji and An Yu-jin.
Source 24 · Newsis (Korean) · First episode of Space Rice Cake Shop · opens in a new tabEND OF SELECTED RECORDSSelected records, 2012–2026 · 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.
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Comedy · South Korea
Jan 16, 1992 —
Ages are counted from the birth year 1992: the year of the event minus 1992, birthdays aside. “Key moment” labels and the connecting story are AgeTrail's editorial reading.
Fact-checked: 2026.09.29 · An independent archive, not affiliated with the person or their agency.