The South Korean fashion model and actress, Jung Hoyeon was born on June 23, 1994. As of now, you’ve binged or at least heard of Squid Game. As the series has become more popular, so has Jung. She is now one of the most-followed South Korean actresses on Instagram with 23 million+ fans. With an undeniable on-screen presence and her outstanding performance as Kang Sae-byeok (a.k.a number 067), she’s quickly garnered an international following.
That’s enough for the background info. So, let’s dive into the things you didn’t know about her.
1. Early Life
Jung Ho Yeon was born and raised in Myeonmok-dong, a small neighborhood on the outskirts of Seoul. Reportedly she has two siblings – a younger brother and a sister named Jung Ji-yeon. Her father runs a soup restaurant in Seoul.
Hoyeon grew up being jaunty and a self-described “tomboy”. She loves to explore the mountains and streams to the east of Seoul. She went to Hyewon Girls’ High School. Later she graduated from Dongduk Women’s University and majored in modeling.
2. Starting of Modeling Career
She worked as a freelancer at Seoul Fashion Week during her teenage, getting cast in shows without help from an agency. Within six years, she’d found representation on her own, placed second in the fourth season of Korea’s Next Top Model in 2013.
After her success on Top Model, Jung was hitting the runway for labels such as Louis Vuitton and Channel. She caught great attention because of her signature hair color. In fact, Disney Princess Ariel from “The Little Mermaid” inspired her to dye her hair red.
Most recently, Louis Vuitton announced that they have chosen Hoyeon as their new global Maison Ambassador.
3. International Fame
When we first saw Sae-byeok in Squid Game, her gaze was cold, and barely uttered a word. In particular, the chemistry that Jung Hoyeon and Lee Yu-mi completed in ‘Squid Game’ is affectionate and is loved all over the world.
She’s best friends with BLACKPINK’s Jennie who not only sent a coffee truck to the set of Squid Game to support Jung, but she also paid a visit and snapped a really cute photo on the set.
You might have seen her in a few music videos, like “Going Crazy” by Lee Hyori, 100%’s “Beat” and Kim Yeon-woo’s “Move”. She is a big fan of the South Korean rock band NELL (넬).
4. Relationships
Fans of Jung Hoyeon are eager to know if she is single. The answer is – she is neither single nor ready to mingle! She has been dating actor Lee Dong-hwi since 2015. Though they admitted to their relationship in 2016 publicly.
To know more about her boyfriend, click here where she explained how she fall in love with her boyfriend.
She has a great bond with her fellow actor friend Gong-myung from “Lovers of the Red Sky”. They became friends through Lee Hanee. You may know her by way of the lead role in the SBS drama “One the Woman”.
The fun fact is that her boyfriend also played the same movie “Extreme Job” with Gong-myung and Lee Hanee in 2019.
5. Favorite Things & Hobbies
Talking about her favorite food, Hoyeon chose seafood. She said,
I like shrimp and sashimi, I like all kinds of seafood, especially squid so much. I can survive without eating meat.
Jung often shared moments with her sister dog, Yang Gaeng. She loves to make funny videos with cats and dogs.
Constantly on the road for modeling, she’d marathon movies as an off-duty escape, watching favorites like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Begin Again, Roma, Maudie, Charlie’s Angels, and Kill Bill repeatedly.
She said one of her favorite film performances is that of Amy Adams in the film “Doubt” (2008). And one of her favorite novels is “The Vegetarian” by South Korean writer Han Kang.
Stranger Things and the German TV series Dark are some of her favorite tv-series of all time.