Background and career
Youn Yuh-jung (Korean: 윤여정; pronounced [jun jʌdʑʌŋ]; born June 19, 1947) is a South Korean actress. She started her career in Korean television in the late 1960s and rose to prominence with the film Woman of Fire (1971). She retired in the mid-1970s and immigrated to the United States before returning to Korea in 1984 and rebuilding her career. Known as the "Godmother of Chungmu-ro", Youn appeared in The Housemaid (2010), The Taste of Money (2012), The Bacchus Lady (2016), and Canola (2016).
On television, Youn is known for her matriarch roles in dramas such as Men of the Bath House (1995), Be Strong, Geum-soon! (2005), Daughters-in-Law (2007), My Husband Got a Family (2012), and Dear My Friends (2016), as well as the reality programmes Sisters Over Flowers (2013), Youn's Kitchen (2017–2018), and Unexpected Journey (2022).
Youn gained international acclaim for her role in Minari (2020), becoming the first Korean actress to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress as well as numerous other awards. She subsequently appeared in international productions, such as the Apple TV+ series Pachinko (2022–2024), the American film The Wedding Banquet (2025), and the Netflix series Beef (2026), the last of which earned her a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.
