Kim Min-ju (김민주) is a South Korean actress and singer born on February 5, 2001, in Seoul. Before devoting herself fully to acting, she rose to prominence as a member of the group IZ*ONE, which was formed following Produce 48. After the group disbanded in 2021, she refocused her career on acting and joined Management SOOP in 2022.
However, she had already begun acting long before that transition. She first appeared in the web drama in 2016 Immortal Goddess, and then plays the younger version of Choi Soo-ji in Tempted in 2018. After a cameo in A-Teen 2, and in 2022, she landed a more prominent role in the romantic sageuk The Forbidden Marriage, in which she plays Ahn Ja-yeon, the crown princess. This performance earned her the Best New Actress award at the MBC Drama Awards.
In 2024, she landed another youth role in the thriller Login, in which she plays the teenage Oh Yun-jin. That same year, she also solidified her presence in film with Hear Me: Our Summer, a remake of the Taiwanese film Hear Me, in which she plays one of the leading roles. She had previously starred in the independent film It's Not Your Fault in 2019.
Her career in dramas gained momentum with Undercover High School in 2025. In it, she plays Lee Ye-na, president of the student council, opposite Seo Kang-joon and Jin Ki-joo. In 2026, she landed her first major leading role on television in How you shine (Still Shining), in which she plays Mo Eun-a alongside Chae Jong-hyeop.
Kim Min-ju then continued to take on leading roles. She is set to appear in B.I.B. in 2027 as Ha Min-su, as well as in Where Are You Going? Popularity!, in which she is set to play Song Ji-yu. With this development, she is gradually establishing herself as a K-pop-turned-actress who has successfully built a filmography increasingly focused on dramas.
