Kim Hye Yoon Reflects on a Remarkable 2026 Filled With New Challenges
Kim Hye Yoon is looking back on a particularly busy and meaningful 2026, a year that has seen her take on new genres, achieve a major box-office success, and prepare for several highly anticipated projects.
In a recent interview with Ilgan Sports celebrating the newspaper's 57th anniversary, Kim Hye Yoon described the year as exciting and rewarding. She said that working on different characters has allowed her to show more diverse sides of herself, even while maintaining a packed schedule.
Her biggest surprise of the year came with “Sal Mok Ji”, which was released in April. The horror film became a major box-office success, attracting approximately 3.24 million moviegoers and becoming a particularly meaningful project for Kim Hye Yoon as her first leading role in a feature film and her first major challenge in the horror genre.
A New Side of Kim Hye Yoon
Kim Hye Yoon admitted that she had always considered herself easily frightened, but filming Sal Mok Ji made her realize that she was actually more fearless than she thought.
The experience also gave her a new appreciation for horror and left her open to taking on the genre again in the future.
Beyond the film's box-office performance, Kim Hye Yoon also became a talking point during Sal Mok Ji promotional events, where she enthusiastically joined fan-prepared memes and challenges. Some of those moments spread widely on social media.
She also spoke about the support she receives from fans, saying that she is grateful when people tell her that they gain positive energy and brightness from watching her.
From Horror to the Courtroom
Her next major transformation will come with “Good Partner 2,” the follow-up to the hit legal drama Good Partner.
Kim Hye Yoon is joining the new season as Kang Hye Sung, giving her another opportunity to step into a completely different type of character. She expressed excitement about appearing in a suit and showing audiences a new side of herself.
“I’m honored to be part of Good Partner,” Kim Hye Yoon said, adding that she is working hard while preparing for filming.
More Projects on the Way
Kim Hye Yoon's busy schedule does not end with Good Partner 2. She also has “Land,” “High School Detective,” and “The Miracles of the Namiya General Store” among the projects awaiting release.
After 14 years of acting, Kim Hye Yoon said she continues to learn more about herself through every character she plays. She compared each project to a diary, preserving the energy and memories of a particular period of her life.
Looking toward the future, she hopes to become an actress audiences will continue to look forward to and want to see often.
For Kim Hye Yoon, 2026 has become another important page in that diary—one filled with horror, legal drama, new challenges, and several more characters still waiting to be discovered.