Shin Eun-kyung
Shin in March 2024
Born	(1973-02-15)15 February 1973 (age 53) Busan, South Korea
Education	Dankook University – Theater and Film
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1988–present
Agent	Run Entertainment
Spouse	Kim Jung-soo ​ ​ (m. 2003; div. 2007)​
Korean name
Hangul	신은경
Hanja	申恩慶
RR	Sin Eungyeong
MR	Sin Ŭn'gyŏng

Shin Eun-kyung (Korean: 신은경; born 15 February 1973) is a South Korean actress. She is best known for her leading roles inDownfall (1997) andMy Wife Is a Gangster (2001). Shin is one of the most prominent Korean actress in the 1990s, alongsideShim Eun-ha,Ko So-young andJeon Do-yeon, whom she starred with inGeneral Hospital (1994).

Shin began appearing in commercials in 1986 at the age of 13, and made her television debut in 1988 onKBS. Throughout the late eighties and early nineties, she acted in a great number of films andTV dramas (notably in the 2001medical dramaGeneral Hospital), garnering fame for her warm screen presence.^[1] In 1997, however, she took on her most daring role as a prostitute in veteran directorIm Kwon-taek'sDownfall.^[2] The film was a box-office success, leading her to star status.^[3]

In 1999, she starred in two films, including the Korean-Japanese co-produced horror filmThe Ring Virus, based on the novel byKoji Suzuki. Her success in this role led to her being cast in a small role for a Japanese film,Uzumaki (also known asSpiral). Around this time, Shin was also working as anMC for a television game show.^[3]

In 2002, Shin starred in her most famous role as a tough, female gang boss inMy Wife Is a Gangster. The film drew more than 5 million spectators and became a strong hit throughout Asia.^[4] She also appeared in the sequel,My Wife Is a Gangster 2, but the film faltered at the box office in 2003. Other roles Shin starred in around this time were as a detective inThis Is Law (also known asOut of Justice), as a professional matchmaker in the romantic comedyA Perfect Match, and as a naval officer in the box office bombBlue.^[3][5]

Shin went on a short hiatus after she married and had a baby, and returned to acting in 2005, starring in films such asBystanders andMr. Housewife,^[6][7] and television series such asBad Couple,Mom's Dead Upset,^[8]White Lie,Still You andThe Scandal. She gained praise for her impassioned portrayals of ruthless and ambitious women in the 2010 melodramaFlames of Desire and the 2014 revenge thrillerThe Plan.^[9][10][11]

Shin has been a professor at Seoul Hoseo Art College's Department of Performing Arts since 2011.^{[citation needed]}

On 22 September 2003, Shin married Kim Jung-soo, who was then theCEO of her talent agency Good Player Entertainment. The following year, she gave birth to a son, who was later diagnosed withhydrocephalus.^{[12][unreliable source?]} On 24 August 2007, Shin filed for divorce when she learned that Kim had used her privateseal without her permission to misappropriate ₩400 million (US$424,800) for his business after its merger with Fantom Entertainment and the box office failure of several films he'd produced. In November, Shin sued Kim forforgery of private documents. In a separate case, she was sued by KM Culture, the company from whom Kim had taken a loan which amounted to ₩290 million (US$218,000). On 28 December 2008, the court ruled that Shin was not liable for her ex-husband's debts, stating that although Shin's seal is on the loan contract, Shin had not seen any of the money loaned, had not authorized her seal's use, and is therefore not responsible for the debt.^[13][14]

She again landed in the entertainment headlines in 2011 when she underwentbimaxillary osteotomy surgery (orjaw realignment surgery), reportedly because she felt making her strong jawline "slimmer and more rounded" would give her a "younger, softer, more feminine" look, which would result in more acting roles.^[12][15][16] Shin later spoke candidly that she regretted having undergone the procedure for pure cosmetic purposes, saying the public should be better informed about the pain and danger associated with the invasive surgery.^[17][18] In 2012, she sued an oriental medicine clinic for violating herportrait rights and privacy after it posted false ads on the internet without her permission, featuring her photo and treatment process; she had gone to the clinic to decrease the swelling of her face, a side effect of her jaw reconstruction surgery, but the clinic's treatments proved ineffective. The court ruled in Shin's favor and awarded her damages amounting to ₩35 million.^[19][20][21]

• Shin Eun-kyung at Run Entertainment(in Korean)
• Shin Eun-kyung at theKorean Movie Database
• Shin Eun-kyung atIMDb
• Shin Eun-kyung atHanCinema

• Best Actress Blue Dragon Film Awards winners
• South Korean film actresses
• South Korean television actresses
• Dankook University alumni
• Actresses from Busan
• 1973 births
• Living people

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