[4] Yoon was born in Busan, South Korea and debuted as an actress in 1967 by starring in Cheongchun Geukjang directed by Gang Dae-jin after being chosen in a recruit held by Hapdong Film.

Yoon was commonly referred to as one of the "Troika" (three) of the 1960s, along with her rival actresses, Moon Hee and Nam Jeong-im.

[5] She came out of retirement in 2010 to star in Lee Chang-dong's film, Poetry, which won her the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress and the Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Performance by an Actress.

[6] Yoon resided in Paris, France with her family since her retirement in the mid-90s,[5] until making her comeback in Lee Chang-dong's Poetry.

[7] Throughout her life, Yoon was a devout Roman Catholic, having been baptized in her junior high school years.