Kim Se-jeong / Sejeong (김세정)

Being called a “triple threat” does not do justice to Kim Se-jeong and her extraordinarily insane talent as a singer, dancer, actor, and variety show host and guest. And to be honest, Sejeong only needs to flaunt her sweet smile to effortlessly disarm anyone near enough to see her charming face.

Photo from HanCinema / News1

Birthday: August 28, 1996 Instagram: @clean_0828 Twitter: @0828_kimsejeong YouTube: @OFFICIALKIMSEJEONG0828

But before earning her other nicknames “Variety Cheat Key,” “Survival Ace,” and “God Se-jeong,” she built her career on her blood, sweat, and tears. At 16 years old, she joined the TV competition K-pop Star 2 in 2012 but was unsuccessful. In 2016, she participated again, this time, in the reality audition Produce 101 where she achieved second place and, as a prize, became a member of I.O.I. However, she had to stop earlier as her own agency launched the girl group Gugudan. In 2018, she, Mina, and Nayoung formed the Gugudan subgroup SeMiNa.

In 2017, she first starred in the KBS2 youth drama School 2017 alongside Kim Jung-hyun (Mr. Queen) and Jang Dong-yoon (The Tale of Nokdu), earning a Baeksang nomination for Best New Actress for TV. With the rest of Gugudan, she recorded “Believe in This Moment” as part of the original soundtrack (OST). She is no stranger to OSTs as she previously released the song “If Only” for the k-drama The Legend of the Blue Sea (2016) while her group SeMiNa sang “Lover” for Mr. Sunshine (2018). In 2020, she recorded “All of My Days” and “What My Heart Says” for the OSTs of Crash Landing on You and Record of Youth, respectively. At the end of the year, she composed “Meet Again” for the OST of The Uncanny Counter and showed she has what it takes to be an action star in OCN’s highest-rated series.

Last year, she starred in the wildly popular SBS/Netflix rom-com Business Proposal alongside Ahn Hyo-seop (Lovers of the Red Sky) and in the SBS k-drama Today’s Webtoon as a judoka-turned-webtoon editor. She and the rest of the “counters” reprise their roles in The Uncanny Counter 2: Counter Punch. For the rest of the year, she will be busy with the release of Door, her first full-length album, and her first solo concert to be held in 10 countries.

- with inputs from Trash Panda