The year she turned 23, she made her film debut in a bit part in Marriage Story. In 1993, she made her singing debut with “Pupil,” the theme song of the film On a Windy Day We Must Go to Apgujeong. In 1994, she appeared in the film How to Top My Wife. In 1995, she appeared in KBS2’s Gamyeon Sogui Namja.
The breakthrough yearThe year she turned 27, “A Love Only Heaven Permits” from her second album became a big hit, and she became a popular singer.
In 1997, the third album’s title track “Rose of Betrayal” reached No. 1 on music shows, and at year’s end she received the Top 10 Singers Award at the Seoul Gayo Daesang. In 1998, her fourth album ranked first in album sales. In 1999, “I Don’t Know” topped the music chart one week after release. In 2000, she released her sixth album, Queen of Charisma.
In 2001, she was cast in the film Marriage Is a Crazy Thing. In 2002, the film was released and passed one million viewers. In 2003, she won Best Actress in film at the Baeksang Arts Awards for it. In 2004, she released the eighth album Self–Control and appeared in the film Mr. Handy, Mr. Hong.
In 2005, she appeared in the film Princess Aurora. In 2006, she won Best Actress at the Busan Film Critics Awards for it. In 2007, she won the Korean Music Awards for her album Prestige. In 2009, the film Haeundae passed 10 million viewers nationwide.
In May 2010, she had thyroid cancer surgery. In 2011, she appeared in the film Mama. In 2012, the film Dancing Queen passed a cumulative audience of 3.84 million, and she won Best Actress at the Baeksang Arts Awards. In 2013, she won Best Actress at the Grand Bell Awards for the film Montage.
In 2014, she appeared in tvN’s A Witch’s Love. In 2017, she appeared in MBC’s You Are Too Much and released her tenth album, her first full album in eight years. In 2020, she appeared in the film Okay! Madam. In 2022, she appeared in tvN’s Our Blues.
The year she turned 54, she played the title role in JTBC’s Doctor Cha, and the drama recorded a peak rating of 18.5%. In 2025, she appeared in Genie TV’s My Troublesome Star. In 2026, the film Okay! Madam 2 was released.
Uhm Jung-hwa (born Aug 17, 1969) made her film debut in 1992, the year she turned 23, in Marriage Story, and her singing debut the next year. She became known in 1996, the year she turned 27, when “A Love Only Heaven Permits” from her second album became a big hit, and the next year “Rose of Betrayal” reached No. 1 on music shows. In 2009, the year she turned 40, she became a 10-million actress with the film Haeundae.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.
Made her film debut in a bit part as a female DJ.
Source 01 · Newsculture (Korean) · Interview at 34 years since debut · opens in a new tabSource 02 · Top Star News (Korean) · Introducing Okay! Madam 2 · opens in a new tabMade her singing debut with “Pupil,” the theme song of the film On a Windy Day We Must Go to Apgujeong. That year she received the new singer award in the dance category when the most popular songs of the first half of the year were selected.
Source 02 · Top Star News (Korean) · Introducing Okay! Madam 2 · opens in a new tabSource 03 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · A rush of film and drama theme songs · opens in a new tabSource 04 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Best songs of the first half · opens in a new tabIn Kang Woo-suk’s film, she played Hye-ri, an actress who seduces Park Joong-hoon.
Source 05 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Uhm Jung-hwa in films · opens in a new tabAppeared with Kung Sun-young in a summer horror mystery series, playing a wife in an arranged marriage.
Source 06 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · KBS2’s Gamyeon Sogui Namja · opens in a new tabThe song “A Love Only Heaven Permits” from her second album became a big hit and drew attention, and she became a popular singer. Yonhap reported in March 1997 that the second album had sold 200,000 copies the year before.
The third album’s title track “Rose of Betrayal,” composed by Joo Young-hoon, reached No. 1 on music shows. At the end of that year she received the Top 10 Singers Award at the Seoul Gayo Daesang, and an MBC poll ranked her first among female solo singers.
Source 07 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Uhm Jung-hwa’s new album After Love released · opens in a new tabSource 08 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · HOT Seoul Gayo Daesang · opens in a new tabSource 09 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · MBC poll on top stars in each field · opens in a new tabSource 43 · Sisun News (Korean) · Who is Uhm Jung-hwa · opens in a new tabHer fourth album (called Poison in the Yonhap report) ranked first in album sales according to the official announcement of the Korea Video and Record Association. She also released the OST of KBS’s drama Pure, sung with Ryu Si-won.
Source 10 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Popular singer Uhm Jung-hwa’s best-selling album · opens in a new tabHer new song “I Don’t Know” took first place on the music chart for the fourth week of June, one week after release. At the end of that year she won the female solo category at the Music Video Awards.
Source 11 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Uhm Jung-hwa’s “I Don’t Know” on top in its first week · opens in a new tabSource 12 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Music Video Awards · opens in a new tabReleased her sixth album. On the night of October 28, right after a recording for a cable music channel, she was hospitalized from overwork.
Source 13 · Dong-A Ilbo (Korean) · Uhm Jung-hwa releases her sixth album · opens in a new tabHer casting was announced along with Kam Woo-sung. It is based on the novel of the same name by the novelist Lee Man-kyo.
Source 14 · Kukmin Ilbo (Korean) · Culture news · opens in a new tabThe film, released at the end of April, passed one million viewers nationwide.
Source 15 · Maeil Business Newspaper (Korean) · Interview with Chungeoram CEO Choi Yong-bae · opens in a new tabSource 16 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Box office · opens in a new tabWon Best Actress in film for Marriage Is a Crazy Thing.
Source 17 · Munhwa Ilbo (Korean) · Person of the week · opens in a new tab The date of the ceremony was not confirmed.Released a two-disc album: Self, which aimed for electronica, and Control, which continued her earlier style.
Source 18 · Kukmin Ilbo (Korean) · Eighth album Self–Control · opens in a new tabA romantic comedy with Kim Joo-hyuk, in which she played the dentist Hye-jin.
Source 19 · Korea Economic Daily (Korean) · New film Mr. Handy, Mr. Hong · opens in a new tabIn Bang Eun-jin’s film, she played Jung Soon-jung, who carries out serial killings out of grief over the loss of her daughter.
Source 20 · Dong-A Ilbo (Korean) · Bang Eun-jin’s Princess Aurora · opens in a new tabSource 21 · OSEN (Korean) · Uhm Jung-hwa wins Best Actress at the Busan Film Critics Awards · opens in a new tabWon for her role as Jung Soon-jung in Princess Aurora.
Source 21 · OSEN (Korean) · Uhm Jung-hwa wins Best Actress at the Busan Film Critics Awards · opens in a new tabWon for the album Prestige.
Source 22 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Korean Music Awards, Album of the Year · opens in a new tabShe played the ex-wife of Park Joong-hoon’s character in the disaster film, which passed 10 million viewers nationwide that summer, making her a 10-million actress for the first time. She was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Grand Bell Awards for the role.
Source 23 · Newsen (Korean) · Haeundae makes Uhm Jung-hwa a 10-million actress · opens in a new tabSource 24 · Joynews24 (Korean) · Grand Bell Awards actors and actresses · opens in a new tabDiagnosed with early-stage thyroid cancer at a health checkup, she had endoscopic surgery. It became public through her agency that October.
Source 25 · Lady Kyunghyang (Korean) · Thyroid cancer surgery a success · opens in a new tabSource 26 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Fully recovered after thyroid cancer surgery · opens in a new tabPlayed Dong-sook, a single mother whose son has a rare disease.
Source 27 · Newsis (Korean) · Mama · opens in a new tabStarred with Hwang Jung-min, and the film passed a cumulative audience of 3.84 million.
Source 28 · TV Report (Korean) · Dancing Queen nearing four million · opens in a new tabWon for Dancing Queen, nine years after her win in 2003.
Source 29 · Newsen (Korean) · Uhm Jung-hwa wins Best Actress after nine years · opens in a new tabWon for the film Montage.
Source 30 · SBS Entertainment News (Korean) · Montage wins Best Actress at the Grand Bell Awards · opens in a new tabPlayed Ban Ji-yeon in a romance that crosses a 14-year age gap with Park Seo-joon.
Source 31 · Chosun Ilbo (Korean) · A Witch’s Love debuts · opens in a new tabSource 32 · Donghaeng Media Sidae (Korean) · 2014 cable drama year in review · opens in a new tabPlayed the top star Yoo Ji-na in a 50-episode drama that aired from March to August.
Source 33 · Financial News (Korean) · Red rooster to golden dog, a year for the rooster-born · opens in a new tabHer first full album in eight years as a singer. It also included the songs of Part 2, released on the 13th.
Source 34 · Sports Kyunghyang (Korean) · Pre-orders for her first full album in eight years · opens in a new tabIn the comic action film with Park Sung-woong as her husband, she played Lee Mi-young, a former elite North Korean agent. The film drew 1.23 million viewers.
Source 35 · Wikitree (Korean) · Okay! Madam No. 2 on Netflix · opens in a new tabFirst appeared as Go Mi-ran.
Source 36 · OSEN (Korean) · Uhm Jung-hwa appears in Our Blues · opens in a new tabPlayed Cha Jeong-suk, a housewife of 20 years who becomes a first-year resident. With a peak rating of 18.5% (Nielsen Korea, nationwide), the drama ranked fourth among JTBC dramas of all time.
Source 37 · Sisa Journal (Korean) · Uhm Jung-hwa interview · opens in a new tabSource 38 · MK Sports (Korean) · 2023 year in review, Actors of the Year · opens in a new tabPlayed Bong Cheong-ja.
Source 39 · Sports Seoul (Korean) · Chemistry between Chun Woo-hee and Uhm Jung-hwa · opens in a new tabSource 44 · Sports Kyunghyang (Korean) · My Troublesome Star and Song Seung-heon · opens in a new tabIt took first place among Korean films at the box office on opening day. With 42,931 on the first day, it was fourth in the overall box office.
Source 40 · Herald Muse (Korean) · Okay! Madam 2 tops the box office on opening day · opens in a new tabSource 41 · IZE (Korean) · Box office · opens in a new tabEND OF SELECTED RECORDSSelected records, 1992–2026 · 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.
Music · South Korea
Aug 17, 1969 —
Ages are counted from the birth year 1969: the year of the event minus 1969, 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.