Han Sun-hwa

Han Sun-hwa (born October 6, 1990), also known mononymously as Sunhwa, is a South Korean singer and actress.

She is a former member of the South Korean girl group Secret.

Han Sun-hwa was born on October 6, 1990, in Buk-gu, Busan, South Korea.

She has one younger sister and one younger brother, Han Seung-woo.

Han's mother gave birth to her at the young age of 20.

As the eldest child, she took care of her younger siblings by cooking them food and tutoring them when both of their parents had to work.

During the East Asian Financial Crisis in 1998, Han's family struggled and recalled that her dream of being an entertainer was getting dim.

Ever since she was young, Han had an interest in art and had always dreamed of becoming an artist.

She took after-school art programs in elementary school and managed to win several awards from various art competitions.

However, after seeing one of BoA's performances on television, she realized her dream was singing and dancing.

Since then, Han began auditioning for various recording companies; she entered the S.M. Entertainment Youth Best Competition but was eliminated.

She made her television debut in 2004 while participating in SBS' Superstar Survival as a finalist, and in 2009, she was a regular cast on a variety show called Invincible Youth.

In 2004, Han started auditioning at companies besides singing competitions.

In 2005, she became a finalist on a talent show called Superstar Survival along with 2PM's Taecyeon, Lee Junho and Chansung.

During the show, Han received vocal and acting training; however, she was eliminated in the fifth episode and went back to Busan.

Following her setback, Han went back to being an ordinary high school student.

However, there was a big change in the way Han's peers looked at her: due to false rumors, they thought she was a JYP trainee; Han admitted she became afraid of people because of the jealous stares.

Teacher Sung Yong-ho, in charge of the school choir, helped Han by giving her chances to participate in competitions; then, she was admitted to Baekjae Art College.

A few days before the college entrance ceremony, she got a call from an agent who watched Superstar Survival and became a trainee in TS Entertainment.

In October 2009, Han, along with Jung Ha-na, Song Ji-eun and Jun Hyo-seong, debuted in the group Secret; prior to their debut, the group was on a documentary show called Secret Story which chronicled their debut process.

In the same month, Han was chosen as a regular cast member of a South Korean variety show called Invincible Youth; the news that a girl group member who hadn't debuted yet would be selected for a variety program caused a huge sensation.

Secret released their debut single "I Want You Back" in October 2009.

Aside from music, she also ventured into acting and made her debut in the 2010 drama, More Charming By The Day.

She also acted in several dramas with supporting roles in Ad Genius Lee Tae-baek, God's Gift: 14 Days, and Marriage, Not Dating.

In April 2010, they released their first mini album entitled Secret Time which spawned the hit single "Magic" and served as their breakthrough song in South Korea.

The same year, Han made her acting debut in the sitcom More Charming By The Day.

She next starred in the workplace drama Ad Genius Lee Tae-baek.

On December 28, 2010, Han made a cameo appearance on MBC's daily sitcom, All My Love, playing Gain's old college friend.

In 2012, for the year end SBS Gayo Daejeon show, SBS created four idol super groups, a fan vote placed Han into the group designated Mystic White, the group working with producer Kim Do-hoon, created the song "Mermaid Princess" the profits of which was donated to charity.

In 2014, Han got her first lead role MBC's weekend drama Rosy Lovers alongside Lee Jang-woo.

CNN International Seoul listed Han as one of the nine rising "it" stars in Korean entertainment citing her as a "multi-tasking" artist.

The same year, her performance in tvN romance drama, Marriage, Not Dating earned her a nomination for "Best Youth Actress" at the 16th Seoul International Youth Film Festival.

She also won two best new actress awards from MBC and SBS Drama Awards for her roles in Rosy Lovers and fantasy thriller God's Gift - 14 Days.

It was confirmed on September 26, 2016, that Han had not renewed her contract with TS Entertainment and would leave the company in October.

On October 14, 2016, Han joined Huayi Brothers as an actress.

In 2017, Sunhwa starred in the office comedy series Radiant Office, as well as teen drama School 2017.

In 2018, Sunhwa was cast in MBC's weekend drama My Contracted Husband, Mr. Oh.

In 2020, Sun-hwa was cast in the romantic-comedy drama, Backstreet Rookie, alongside Ji Chang-wook and Kim Yoo-jung, based on a webtoon of the same name.

She played Dae-hyun's (Ji Chang-wook) girlfriend and former boss, also a convenience store headquarters Public Relations team leader.

In July 2020, she confirmed her appearance in JTBC's drama Undercover, a remake of 2016 BBC miniseries of the same name.