Hahm Eun-jung (Korean: 함은정; born December 12, 1988), known professionally as Eunjung and also Elsie, is a South Korean singer, actress, model, host, entertainer, and lyricist. She began her career at the age of seven as an entertainer in 1995, when she won the Little Miss Korea competition and debuted as a child actress in the same year in a television drama A New Generation of Adults (1995). Since then, she has taken on several roles in movies, television series and also being cast in various commercial films. After three years of training, she debuted as a member of South Korean girl group T-ara in July 2009 (and later its subgroup T-ara N4).
She has won the Child Actor Award for her role in "Drama of The Year" multi-winner Land at the 2004 SBS Drama Awards. She was also nominated and won awards for comedies Coffee House (2010) and Dream High (2011), reality show We Got Married (2011–12), family drama Be My Dream Family (2021), daily soap opera Love Twist (2021–22), romance drama Suji & Uri (2024), and the thriller Queen's House (2025).
She debuted as a solo artist by the name Elsie with her EP, I'm Good, on May 7, 2015, which went on to win her The Best Female Artist at V Chart Awards, China's largest video-sharing platform. Hahm's career extends beyond music and cinema—she has forayed into modeling, hosting, and TV. She has hosted over 15 events from the Dream Concert to the Grand Bell Awards and Jecheon International Music & Film Festival. In 2012, she hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live Korea along with S.E.S.'s Bada and Horan, which drew a rating of 1.444%.
Early life and education
Hahm was born in Sanggye-dong, Nowon District, Seoul, South Korea. Her mother, a graduate of Ewha Womans University, was a former piano teacher who worked as Hahm's agent. While attending seventh grade, Hahm started Taekwondo lessons and won three different competitions. Her mother made the decision to quit teaching and manage her career upon her high school graduation in 2007. Later that year, Hahm enrolled in Dongguk University where she took performance courses.
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." Hahm's late mother was a piano instructor who later became her agent, while her father owns a small raw fish restaurant in Gangwon Province.
Career
1995–2008: Career beginnings
In 1995, when Hahm was seven years old, she participated in the "Little Miss Korea" pageant and won. That same year, she appeared in the youth drama A New Generation of Adults, which aired on KBS. Afterwards, she had several minor roles in movies and dramas, along with being cast in several commercial films.
In 2007, Hahm made appearances in a number of music videos. Namely, eighteen-year-old Hahm is featured in SG Wannabe's music video "Gasiri" from Story In New York. Later that year, she would also be seen in F.T. Island's music videos: "Thunder"; "Only One Person", and "A Man's First Love Follow Him To The Grave". She also appeared in the 2008 horror film Death Bell, where she plays a student who was murdered by her teacher. Eunjung self-taught herself Pansori, a traditional Korean singing style, by practicing with old tapes to qualify for her first major role in Land.
2009–2012: Rising popularity
Hahm originally trained to be an actress, and later debuted as a member of T-ara in July 2009. She was the first leader of the group, until September 2010. Hahm featured in Davichi's music video "Time, Please Stop" which was released on May 6, 2010. Her first major acting role since joining T-ara was in SBS drama Coffee House, which aired from May 17 to July 17, 2010. That same year, she was cast in the horror film White: Melody of Death.
Hahm's popularity began to rise in 2011 when she starred in the teen drama Dream High. The drama was a success and brought high domestic viewership ratings. It also gained popularity in other countries and won several international awards. From 2011 to 2012, she joined MBC's variety program We Got Married, pairing up with actor Lee Jang-woo. She won the Best Newcomer Award at the MBC Entertainment Awards. Hahm was then cast in historical dramas The King of Legend and Insu, The Queen Mother.
In June 2012, Hahm was confirmed to star in the drama Five Fingers. However, on August 22, it was revealed that she had been dropped from the drama. The Korean Actors Labor Union demanded that Hahm be issued an apology by the producer and crew. In February 2013, Yein E&M issued a formal apology for firing Hahm without notice. In October 2013, MBK Entertainment revealed that Eun-jung participated in the arrangement of T-ara's upcoming track "I Know The Feeling" from their newest EP Again. Deoksang Park, the composer of the song proposed the collaboration.
2014–2017: Return to acting and solo debut
Hahm made her return to acting in 2014, with SBS' weekend period drama Endless Love. In 2015, it was announced that Hahm was offered the lead role in the Thai romantic comedy Micro Love, making her the first female idol to star in a Thai film. In May, Hahm made her solo debut under the stage name Elsie. She released her first mini album I'm Good, with the lead single of the same name featuring K.Will. The Chinese version of her music video peaked at number two on YinYueTai's music video charts. On October 14, Hahm released the song Goodbye, as the soundtrack of T-ara's web-drama Sweet Temptation. The song was also included in her repackaged mini album, Goodbye, released on October 30. In 2016, Hahm was cast in Flowers of Evil, a thriller directed by Cho Sung-kyu. In 2017, Hahm was cast in MBC's daily drama, Sisters-in-Law, which premiered in April that year.
2018–present: New agency and solo career
In January 2018, Hahm confirmed her departure from MBK after her contract expired. In February, Hahm signed an exclusive management contract with UFO Production, making her the company's first-ever artist. UFO Production, a subsidiary of technology company Pobis TNC, is more known for producing the MBC TV weekend drama Money Flower. On May 24, it was confirmed that Hahm was cast in KBS's romantic comedy-drama Lovely Horribly, starring Park Si-hoo and Song Ji-hyo. On February 26, 2019, it was announced that Hahm would be the narrator for the Korea-Vietnam co-production documentary named The Muse Story, which will be broadcast on KBS World. On October 14, 2020, her label announced that Hahm would be starring in an upcoming film called "I Will, Song" as Moon-kyul, a singer who can no longer sing.
Hahm was cast in the leading role of the TV drama Be My Dream Family, which aired on KBS1 every weekday from March 29, 2021, to October 1. The drama was well-received for its heartwarming portrayal of family dynamics. On July 15, Hahm left Cabin 74 after her contract expired. On September 27, Hahm signed a new exclusive contract with Management Koo. In 2021, along with Supernova's Gonil, Eun-jung took the lead role in short original drama Cell Division which was released on DramaX. The drama was also sold in Japan to multiple broadcasters—this includes streaming services like Amazon's Prime Video, Yahoo Japan's GYAO, music.Jp and Fuji TV's FOD. It premiered on KNTV Japan on May 26.
On February 15, 2023, Hahm was confirmed to be part of the main cast of JTBC's variety program Differential Class for its new season which premieres on March 5. Differential Class is an informative variety show that first aired in 2017, achieving a peak rating of 5%. The show has also garnered over 500,000 followers and more than 200 million views on YouTube. Later in the year, Eun-jung was cast in Kunio Shimizu's "Dressing Room" portraying the character "D". The play was well-received and its…