[Sportschosun Kim Jun-seok] Actress Jin Ki-joo, who is appearing in the Netflix series 'Teach You a Lesson,' is once again drawing attention for her remarkable background.
As her unusual career path — from Samsung SDS employee to broadcast reporter to supermodel before making her acting debut — is being revisited, the email she left for her colleagues when she resigned from the conglomerate is also back in the spotlight.
Recently, online communities and social networking services (SNS) have been sharing the email Jin Ki-joo sent to her colleagues when she left Samsung SDS.
In the message, she wrote, "I think it was a great blessing that I was able to meet so many wonderful people at my first job," adding, "It was not easy to decide to leave such a good place, but I had a dream that I felt I would regret not pursuing now, 10 or 20 years later, so I gathered my courage."
One line in particular — "They say adaptation leads to a frightening kind of resignation. So before it was too late, I drew my sword" — has resonated with many office workers, as it captures her sincerity in leaving a stable job to take on a new challenge.
Jin Ki-joo previously appeared on tvN (Total Variety Network)'s 'You Quiz on the Block' in 2021, where she candidly spoke about her journey from Samsung SDS employee to Gangwon No.1 Broadcasting reporter, supermodel, and finally actress.
She said she had dreamed of becoming a journalist since childhood, influenced by her father, who was also a reporter. Jin Ki-joo recalled, "Since I was young, the stories my dad told me about the world were always ahead of the news. He seemed like a very cool adult."
After graduating from the Department of Computer Engineering at Chung-Ang University (CAU), she joined Samsung SDS. Looking back, she said, "New employee training and the classes I took with my peers were more fun than the actual work." But as time passed, she could not give up her dream of becoming an actress, which had been in the back of her mind, and eventually decided to quit.
Jin Ki-joo said, "My expression must have gotten worse and worse on my commute. My mother told me, 'If there is something you want to do, try it.'" She added, "It was a time when getting a job was extremely difficult, so I could not gather the courage easily."
She continued, "In the email I sent to my seniors and classmates when I resigned, I wrote that I had 'drawn my sword because I thought it would be too late if I kept worrying any longer.' In truth, I wanted to become an actress, but I could not tell anyone around me. I was afraid they would laugh at me."
After leaving the company, she tried following in her father's footsteps by pursuing a career in journalism. She worked as a reporter for Gangwon No.1 Broadcasting and experienced the profession she had long dreamed of, but reality was not easy.
She recalled, "When I was a rookie reporter, the only personal time I had was while washing my hair. It was so hard that I felt like I might throw up while washing my hair."
Later, Jin Ki-joo left journalism and, at her older sister's suggestion, entered the Supermodel Contest. She passed the document screening with a profile photo she had taken while preparing for the civil service exam for journalists, and her experience performing with a company troupe during her time at the conglomerate helped her earn strong marks in the talent round. She eventually won an audition for the 2015 drama 'Second 20s' and finally achieved her dream of becoming an actress.
Even after her acting debut, she faced repeated rejections in auditions because she was considered too old, but she said, "The director of 'Second 20s' told me, 'You have talent, so why are you so self-conscious?' That gave me a lot of courage."
She added, "Acting is more unstable than any job I have had before, and it also takes a toll on your pride, but it is the most interesting thing and the work I love the most."
She also shared her own philosophy on life, saying, "Changing jobs seems possible only when you are willing to let something go. Even if there is no guarantee that things will get better than what you have now, it is important to ask yourself whether this is something you want to do even if you lose what you already have."
Meanwhile, Jin Ki-joo is currently receiving praise from viewers at home and abroad for her powerful action scenes and stable acting in the Netflix series 'Teach You a Lesson,' where she plays Im Han-rim, an investigator at the Korean Educational Rights Protection Bureau.
narusi@sportschosun.com
