Yuri Kwon

Kwon Yu-ri (born December 5, 1989), better known by her mononym Yuri, is a South Korean singer, actress and songwriter.

Yuri was born in Deogyang-gu, Goyang, Gyeonggi, South Korea, on December 5, 1989.

She has one older brother, Kwon Hyuk-joon.

She auditioned at the SM Entertainment Casting System and joined the company in 2001 after finishing in second place in the 2001 SM Youth Best Dancer Contest.

She then underwent training for 5 years and 11 months before her debut.

She debuted as a member of girl group Girls' Generation (and later its subgroup Girls' Generation-Oh!GG) in August 2007, which went on to become one of the best-selling artists in South Korea and one of South Korea's most popular girl groups worldwide.

Yuri made her official debut as a member of the 9-member girl group, Girls' Generation in August 2007.

Aside from her group's activities, she had a small role in a television segment, The King's Boyfriend, which was part of the documentary Super Junior Show by S.M Entertainment's boy group Super Junior.

She also made a cameo appearance as a ballerina in the film, Attack on the Pin-Up Boys, which also stars the members of Super Junior.

She graduated from Neunggok High School in 2008.

In 2008, Yuri had a recurring role in the 2008 KBS2 sitcom, Unstoppable Marriage, where she played as a high school student along with fellow member Sooyoung.

In June, she sang a duet called "Kkok (Must!)" with Sooyoung for the soundtrack of SBS television series, Working Mom.

Yuri also became a cast member in the second season of Kko Kko Tours Single♥Single, a dating show between celebrities.

In 2009, she was announced to be a host of MBC music program, Show! Music Core with fellow member Tiffany.

In April, K.Will released the music video of "Dropping The Tears", featuring Yuri.

She then

performed a special stage with him for one of his performances of the song on ''Show!

Music Core'', playing the piano in the background.

At the end of the year, Yuri was cast alongside Sunny as one of the 7 girl group members, dubbed as 'G7' in the KBS2 reality variety show, Invincible Youth, for which she earned a nomination as Best Female MC at the 2010 KBS Entertainment Awards.

As Girls' Generation started preparing for their Japanese debut, their schedules became busier.

Because of this, Yuri and Sunny left Invincible Youth in June 2010.

For the same reason, she and Tiffany also had to leave ''Show!

Music Core'' in the following month to focus on the group's activities.

Yuri made her first contribution as a songwriter for Girls' Generation's third mini album, Hoot, where she wrote the lyrics for the track, "Mistake".

In September, she was featured in the track "Like A Soap", from TVXQ's sixth Korean studio album Catch Me.

In October 2011, Tiffany and Yuri returned to ''Show!

Apart from her group's activities, she has acted in several television dramas such as Fashion King (2012), Local Hero (2016), Innocent Defendant (2017), Dae Jang Geum Is Watching (2018), Bossam: Steal the Fate (2021), and Good Job (2022).

Music Core'' and hosted the show until January 2012 when Yuri left the show once again to focus on her drama debut.

In 2012, Yuri made her acting debut in SBS drama series Fashion King alongside actor Yoo Ah-in.

Yuri received nominations at the 5th Korea Drama Awards and the 2012 SBS Drama Awards for her acting performance, and received the New Star Award at the latter on December 31.

In 2013, she made her film debut in No Breathing.

In 2013, Girls' Generation released their fourth Korean studio album, I Got a Boy, which has two of its tracks' lyrics co-written by Yuri.

"Baby Maybe" was co-written by Yuri and her fellow members Sooyoung and Seohyun, while "XYZ" was penned with Seohyun.

In June, she appeared alongside Hyoyeon in Mnet's global dance survival show, Dancing 9.

The two coached the show's contestants as "K-pop dance masters" along with other notable stars who also appeared as dance masters in their specific fields.

Yuri made her film debut in the same year, when she was cast as the female lead in South Korea's first swimming-themed film, No Breathing.

In the coming-of-age film, Yuri portrayed the role of Jung-eun, a girl who dreams of becoming a musician who is also the love interest of the two male leads played by Lee Jong-suk and Seo In-guk.

She and Sooyoung were appointed as Chung-Ang University new ambassadors on May 20, 2014.

On February 15, 2016, she graduated with a degree in Theater and Film as well as receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award as Honorary Ambassador of the school at the graduation ceremony.

In 2018, she made her debut as a soloist with her first extended play The First Scene.