Hahm Eun-jung

Ham Eun-jung
Eunjung at 2015 Summer K-POP Festival
Native name	함은정
Born	(1988-12-12) December 12, 1988[1] Seoul, South Korea
Other names	Elsie
Occupation	Singer actress
Years active	1995–present
Musical career
Genres	K-pop R&B electropop
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2009–present
Labels	MBK Entertainment
Associated acts	T-ara T-ara N4

Hahm Eun-jung (Hangul: 함은정; born December 12, 1988), better known by the mononym Eunjung, also known as Elsie,^[3] is a South Korean singer and actress. She is best known for being a member of South Korean girl group T-ara. In May 2015, she made her solo debut as Elsie with mini album I'm Good.

Biography

Eun-jung was born in Seoul, South Korea. Her mother, a graduate of Ewha Womans University, is a former piano teacher who works as Eun-jung's agent.^[4] While attending seventh grade, Eun-jung started taekwondo lessons and won three different competitions. Her mother made the decision to quit teaching and manage Eun-jung's career upon her high school graduation in 2007. Later that year, Eun-jung enrolled in Dongguk University, where she took performance courses.^[5] She is an only child and has been quoted as explaining, "My mother had me 10 years after she was married to my father, which seems more hurtful. Upon watching several famous performers in the past, she wanted to become an actress. Now that I have, she is very pleased I have acting as a priority. She believes her original prayers were answered."^[6]

Acting career

1995–2009: Career beginnings

In 1995, when Eun-jung was seven years old, she participated in the "Little Miss Korea" pageant and won.^[7] That same year, she appeared in the youth drama "신세대 보고서 어른들은 몰라요" ("Sinsedae Bogoseo Eoreundeureun Mollayo", "A New Generation of Adults"), which aired on Korean Broadcasting System.^[6] Afterwards, she had several minor roles in movies and Korean dramas, along with being cast in a handful of commercial films.

Eun-jung's acting debut was in Hello, My Teacher! where she appeared as a high school student who was unfairly cheated out of a grade which could have put her above the top 40 point. She also appeared in Death Bell alongside Nam Gyuri, Lee Beom-soo and Kim Bum. In the said film, she played the role of Kim Ji-won who was murdered by her own teacher.

She appeared in SG Wannabe's music video "Gasiri" ("가시리") from their 2007 album Story In New York. Later, she would also be seen in FT Island's music videos of "Thunder" ("천둥"), "Only One Person" ("한사람만"), and "A Man's First Love Follow Him To The Grave" ("남자의 첫사랑은 무덤까지 간다").

2010: Coffee House and White

She starred in Davichi's music video "Time, Please Stop" ("시간아 멈춰라"; "Sigana Meomchwora") which was released on May 6, 2010.^[8]

Her first major role after joining T-ara came in Coffee House, which aired on SBS from May 17, 2010, to July 17, 2010.^{[9][10][11][12][13]}

In July 2010, Eun-jung was cast in her first movie role for the thriller White: The Melody of the Curse (화이트: 저주의 멜로디 ).^[14][15] Directed by Kim Gok and Kim Sun, filming began in November 2010.^[16] The film was released to South Korean cinemas on June 9, 2011.

Eun-jung, along with 2AM's Jo Kwon and CN Blue's Jung Yong-hwa, had guest starred on Episode 7 of the popular SBS variety show Running Man which aired on August 22, 2010.^[17]

2011: Dream High, King Geunchogo, and Queen Insoo

She starred in the drama Dream High where she played the role of Baek-Hee. She later took part in historical dramas such as King Geunchogo and Queen Insoo.

2012: Five Fingers

T-ara’s agency Core Contents Media revealed that Eun-jung was confirmed for the drama Five Fingers.^[18] However, on August 22, it was revealed that Eun-jung had been dropped from the drama due to the bullying controversy surrounding T-ara.^[19] The Korean Actors Labor Union demanded that Eun-jung be issued an apology by the producer and other crew members, saying “We are demanding that SBS and Yein E&M issue a sincere apology to member Hahm Eun-jung. The only way to restore her tarnished reputation is to essentially reveal the truth, and receive a genuine apology from all of you." The union also accused the PD of lying about the reason Eun-jung was dismissed, giving the real reason for her dismissal as Eun-jung's refusal to do product placements.^[20] In February 2013, Yein E&M issued a formal apology for firing Hahm without notice.^[21]

2014: Endless Love

She was cast for Endless Love as Tae Cho Ae. This is her comeback for television drama after two years.

2015: I Love You from Today and Mind Memory

In August, she was cast for the KBS drama I Love You from Today as Min Chae Won. It was reported that Eun-jung will play a key role at the end of the drama.

On October 8, A rumor had been spread that Eun-jung will be casted as the lead role with James Ma for Thai drama. On October 15, it was reported that Eun-jung will cast for the Thai movie Mind Memory (Previously called Micro Love) and start filming in November, she is the first idol to act in Thai movie. ^[22]

2016: What Should I Do and Flowers of Evil

In April, parallel to filming "Microlove", Eunjung was casted on a Thai reality show "What Should I Do" where Eunjung discovered Thailand. On the 3rd of July 2016, Eunjung was joined by Hyomin and Jiyeon for a special Fan-meet "What should I Do" with the Thai Fans. ^[23] Still part of her collaboration with 'What Should I Do', Eunjung also released her first book "Smile" as well as T-shirts which she designed herself. ^[24]

Late September, Eunjung started filming for a thriller called "Flowers of Evil", which will be released in the second half of 2017. "Flowers of Evil" tells of the story of 3 different people who climb up a mountain where a thriller story unfolds.^[25]

The Thai movie "Mind Memory" will be released on the 23rd of February 2017.

Music career

T-ara

From the group's debut in July 29, 2009, until September 2010, she was the first leader of T-ara. She and Jiyeon are the only two members of T-ara to be trained in acting. Instead, the two switched over to singing despite their original intentions.^[26][27]

Solo music debut

In May 2015, Eunjung released her first mini album "I'm Good" and title track "I'm Good" featuring K.Will, under her new stage name ELSIE.^[28] The Chinese version of her music video peaked at #2 on the Chinese YinYueTai's music video charts.^[29] On October 14, Eunjung released "Goodbye" both of Korean and Chinese version, as a soundtrack of Web-drama 'Sweet Temptation' and also as a part of her repackaged mini album, "Goodbye" which released on October 30.

Discography

Eunjung at GUESS Party in July 2012

EPs

Singles

Chinese Singles

Soundtracks

Collaborations

Filmography

Film

Television drama

TV Shows

Music video appearances

Awards

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hahm Eun-jung.

• Hahm Eun-jung at the Internet Movie Database
• Hahm Eun-jung at HanCinema