[5] As a child, Joy was interested in modern trot music and was influenced to become a singer after receiving praise for her rendition of Korean rock band Cherry Filter's song "Flying Duck" during a grade school festival.

[13] In June 2015, Joy began her first solo television activity with the fourth season of MBC variety show We Got Married, where she was paired with BtoB member Yook Sung-jae.

[22][23] In 2017, Joy made her acting debut as the female lead in tvN's music-based drama The Liar and His Lover, a South Korean adaptation of Kotomi Aoki's popular manga Kanojo wa Uso o Aishisugiteru.

[28] In July 2017, Joy participated on the singing variety contest show King of Mask Singer under the alias of Bandabi, where she made it through to the next round of the competition.

[29] In 2018, Joy began her first fixed hosting position as the co-host of the second season of JTBC's Sugar Man alongside top TV personalities Yoo Jae-suk, You Hee-yeol, and Park Na-rae.

[30] In 2018, Joy starred in MBC's drama Tempted, loosely based on the French novel Les Liaisons dangereuses, and recorded its OST "OMG!".

[36] In July 2018, Joy was chosen as one of the hosts of Lifetime's new variety show Pajama Friends, alongside Song Ji-hyo and Jang Yoon-ju.

[37] Later that year in October 2018, Joy released the soundtrack song "Dream Me" (with Mark Lee) for the KBS drama The Ghost Detective.

[39][40][41] In December 2019, Joy became part of the athletic variety show, Handsome Tigers, as the manager of Seo Jang-hoon's basketball team composed of celebrities such as Lee Sang-yoon and Cha Eun-woo.

[44] In March 2020, Joy released her solo OST "Introduce Me a Good Person" for the soundtrack of tvN's drama Hospital Playlist.

[78] In another survey conducted among soldiers doing mandatory military service in South Korea, Joy was ranked in the Top 5 most popular female K-pop idols.

[88] In May 2019, eSpoir of South Korea's leading cosmetics conglomerate Amore Pacific, chose Joy as their official muse for their makeup and skincare products.

The CEO Anne Collinet stated that Joy was chosen because "her sincere attitude towards life and her beautiful authenticity fascinates people".

[100] In April 2020, Joy next participated alongside prominent Korean artists in the multi-collaboration project "Evergreen Tree" to support medical professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

[101] On October 21, 2022, Joy and Wonstein released the single "Love Song" as part of the "World Peace Project", with proceeds donated to UNICEF Korea.