In June 2018, Hong Ye-ji participated in the reality competition show Produce 48 as one of the representatives of her then-label CNC, but she was eliminated on its fifth episode.

In December, it was announced that CNC signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Stardium to manage the activities of their five trainees, including Hong, with an aim to debut them as a girl group in 2020.

[4] In May, she was cast for the main character in director Mo Hong-jin's film 2037, under its working title Girl.

[6] Hong officially debuted as an actress with the release of 2037 on June 8, 2022, where she was praised for her performance as a 19-year-old prisoner.

[10][11] In October 2023, it was announced that she was cast in the television series Love Song for Illusion, which premiered on KBS2 in January 2024, marking her first small screen lead role.