Jung Ho-yeon is a South Korean actress and model who gained worldwide recognition after portraying the lead role of Kang Sae-byeok in the South Korean series Squid Game (2021).She grew up as a tomboy. A childhood picture of Jung Ho-yeon with her father.As a child, she attended several academies to learn violin, piano, swimming, English, and mathematics.As a child in elementary school, she used to swim. She was so good at swimming that she won four second-place prizes in swimming competitions in Gyeonggi-do. Due to her parents, who wanted her to only concentrate on her studies, she had to quit swimming.As a teen, she wished to make money. She asked people for suggestions to make money. They told her to try modeling as she was tall. She decided to try modeling. When she was fifteen, she went to Seouls MBC Academy, where she learned the basics of modeling. Her teacher soon began giving her small modeling jobs like fashion school graduation shows. In 2010, aged sixteen, she started her career as a freelance model, and she walked for shows at the Seoul Fashion Week for two years. For two years, she worked without an agency.She quit the second season of the reality modeling show Koreas Next Top Model (2011) after making it to the Top 30 due to a pelvic injury she received while on the show.After the show, she realized her shortcomings and the existence of Asian supermodels. From then on, she began taking modeling seriously. To improve herself, she began watching fashion shows and reading fashion magazines; she use to mimic their poses and walks. In 2012, she auditioned for the modeling agency ESteem Models and signed up with them after cracking it.In 2013, she appeared in Koreas Next Top Model again, where, in the second episode, she was eliminated. She made an entry in the episode of the show again and went on to win second place in the show. Jung Ho-yeon in Koreas Next Top Model (2013).The same year, she was seen in the music video of Going Crazy by the South Korean singer Lee Hyori.In 2014, she was featured in the music video of Move by the South Korean singer Kim Yeon-woo.