[5][6][7] Son Ye-jin was the voice of Jung Mi-jo in Park Ki-hyung's film Secret Tears in 2000, and then went on to take the leading role in television dramas such as Delicious Proposal,[8] Sun-hee and Jin-hee,[9] and Great Ambition.

[13][14] Both were solid mid-level hits in Korea, and The Classic in particular — being a work of My Sassy Girl director Kwak Jae-yong — received wide exposure in regions such as Hong Kong and mainland China, and launched Son into East Asia stardom.

[12] She took on the roles of a con artist in The Art of Seduction,[25] an ambitious reporter in Spotlight,[26] a femme fatale in Open City,[27] and a divorcée in the critically acclaimed series Alone in Love.

[28][29][30] In 2008, her portrayal of a polyandrous woman in My Wife Got Married[31] bagged her Best Actress honors from the prestigious Blue Dragon Film Awards[32] and other local award-giving bodies.

[38] She returned to television in 2013 in the revenge drama Shark (also known as Don't Look Back: The Legend of Orpheus),[39] then headlined Blood and Ties, a thriller about a daughter who suspects that her father was involved in a kidnap-murder case.

[43] Son next starred in the black comedy Bad Guys Always Die opposite Taiwanese actor Chen Bolin, a Chinese-Korean co-production that was filmed on Jeju Island.

[44] In 2016, Son reunited with My Wife Got Married co-star Kim Joo-hyuk in The Truth Beneath, a political thriller,[45] and she received acclaim for her performance.

[58][59] In 2019, Son reunited with Hyun Bin in the global hit romance drama Crash Landing on You as a rich heiress who falls in love with a North Korean commissioned officer.

[62][63][64] Son was scheduled to have her Hollywood debut in 2022, starring opposite Sam Worthington in filmmaker Andrew Niccol's work The Cross.

[67] On March 8, 2022, Son and Hyun Bin donated ₩200 million to the Hope Bridge Disaster Relief Association to help those affected by the massive wildfire of Uljin forest fire 2022, which devastated the area and then spread to Samcheok, Gangwon Province, South Korea.