Portrait of Kang Hye-jung

Birthday profile

Kang Hye-jung

South Korean actress, born 1982

Born
January 4, 1982
Age in 2026
44
Zodiac sign
Capricorn
Birth year
1982

About Kang Hye-jung

Kang Hye-jung (Korean: 강혜정; born January 4, 1982) is a South Korean actress. Making her film debut in arthouse film Nabi (2001), she rose to stardom and critical acclaim in Park Chan-wook's 2003 revenge thriller Oldboy. A rising star early in her career, she gained acting awards for Han Jae-rim's relationship drama Rules of Dating (2005), and Park Kwang-hyun's Korean War comedy Welcome to Dongmakgol (2005). Following roles as a developmentally disabled daughter in Herb (2007), a suicidal woman in Kill Me (2009), as well as her marriage to Tablo in 2009, Kang began starring in more conventional melodramas in TV and film such as Girlfriends (2009), Miss Ripley (2011), The Wedding Scheme (2012), Lucid Dream (2017) and Jugglers (2017–2018). Her major theatre stints include Korean stage adaptations of Proof (2010) and Educating Rita (2014–2015). Kang Hye-jung began working as a model in her first year of high school. Kang's first major hit film was opposite Choi Min-sik in the modern-day classic Oldboy by Park Chan-wook. Known for taking risky roles, Kang gradually started going off the predictable path that the public expected her to take. Her first film role was in Moon Seung-wook's arthouse/sci-fi film Nabi, for which she won a Best Actress award at the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

The world when Kang Hye-jung was born

Kang Hye-jung was born in 1982. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1982

  • #1 song"Physical" – Olivia Newton-John
  • Top movieE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
  • Top TV showDallas
  • Best-selling bookThe Color Purple – Alice Walker

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentItaly wins the FIFA World Cup in Spain
  • Top headlineFalklands War between UK and Argentina
  • Technology milestoneCompact disc (CD) released commercially
  • Defining fadValley Girl speak
  • Notable inventionCompact disc (CD)
  • World population4.61 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderRonald Reagan
  • Sports championSt. Louis Cardinals (World Series)
  • Also wonLos Angeles Lakers (NBA)
  • U.S. population231.7M

1982 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Kang Hye-jung's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19822026
Gas$1.22$3.45/gal
Average home$67,800$435,000
Average income$23,433$67,500
Minimum wage$3.35$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$2.94$11.95
Postage stamp$0.20$0.73
Population231.7M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.