In 1998, Song rose to fame as the antagonist in
Mister Q, playing the head of the design department in an underwear company who bullies the heroine; the trendy drama was a big hit, with a peak viewership rating of 45.3%. Over the next few years, Song became well known for her roles in
TV dramas such as
Paper Crane (1998),
The Boss (1999), and
Hotelier (2001). Her first few films did not make a significant impression at the box office. But in late 2002, Song starred in one of the bigger commercial hits of the year,
Jail Breakers with actors
Sul Kyung-gu and
Cha Seung-won. Her energetic performance in
Kim Sang-jin's
comedy was recognized with Best Supporting Actress trophies from the
Blue Dragon Film Awards, the
Chunsa Film Art Awards, and the
Grand Bell Awards. In 2006, she reunited onscreen with Sol Kyung-gu in
Lost in Love, a low-key
melodrama directed by
Choo Chang-min about two college friends who drift apart and reconnect over the course of ten years.
Arang followed, in which Song played a detective on the trail of a
serial killer; this was her first time to get top
billing over a male costar (rookie actor
Lee Dong-wook). But like
Face, her previous project in the horror genre,
Arang was a commercial and critical failure. Song returned to television with
My Beloved Sister, in the title role of a graduate art student who grew up wealthy but must suddenly take on the responsibilities as head of the family and take care of her younger brothers after their father goes bankrupt then disappears. Then in the 2009
thriller Secret, Song played the wife of a homicide detective—she becomes the prime suspect in a brutal murder he's investigating, while in the 2010 tearjerker
Wedding Dress, her character is a widowed designer who is diagnosed with cancer and begins sewing the ultimate parting gift, a special dress for her young daughter's wedding, which she will never get to see. After getting married in 2009 and giving birth in 2010, Song went on a five-year hiatus from acting. She became an adjunct
professor and part-time lecturer at
Seoul Arts College in 2010, as a faculty member of the Department of Performing Arts and the Department of Broadcasting, Entertainment and Visual Arts.), in 2011 she also joined the
cooking show Food Essay on cable channel Olive, and served as a judge on the first season of
talent-
reality show ''
Korea's Got Talent''. Song made her acting comeback in the 2014 drama series
Mama, which revolved around a terminally ill
single mother's quest to find a loving family for her son before her impending death, leading to her befriending the current wife of a former lover. Her performance won Best Television Actress at the
51st Baeksang Arts Awards. In 2016, Song played a villain in action drama
The K2. In 2017, she returned to the big screen and acted as a war correspondent in VR film
Nine Days. The film is planned to exhibit in
Sundance Film Festival,
Cannes Film Festival and
Venice Film Festival. The same year, she was cast in the film
Stone, her first feature film in 7 years. And the film has invited to the 23rd
Busan International Film Festival. In 2018, Song was cast in SBS mystery family drama
Secret Mother. Song then starred in
JTBC's 2020 pre-produced 19+ age-restricted series
Graceful Friends. Song was cast in
Channel A's series for the first time with melodrama mystery ''
Show Window: The Queen's House''. In 2023, Song reunited with Director
Park Hye-ryeong for web show Song Yoon-ah by PDC. == Other activities ==