Actor Uhm Jung-hwa has returned to theaters this summer with the film OK! MADAM2.
Uhm Jung-hwa appears as former legendary agent Im Mi-young in OK! MADAM2, which opened on July 12, and is meeting audiences. OK! MADAM2 is a sequel to OK! MADAM, which was released in 2020, and is a comic action film that tells the story of the Mi-young family, who set off on a luxury cruise trip and become embroiled in a cruise hijacking incident. It adds bigger action and scale to the cheerful charm of the previous film to offer new fun.
Above all, the epithet most associated with Uhm Jung-hwa is "summer queen." With era-defining hit songs such as "Invitation," "Poison" and "Festival," she has heated up summers and is still counted among the first singers who come to mind each summer.
At the 20th Chilpo Jazz Festival 2026 held in June, Uhm Jung-hwa, who took the stage for the first time in a while, captivated audiences with unchanged live vocals and performance. The audience, which filled the venue, responded with explosive cheers and sing-alongs, once again confirming the enduring power of the "summer queen."
Her presence as an actress has been steady as well as her work as a singer. Having shown distinctive acting in various genres, including the 10-million-ticket film Haeundae, Dancing Queen and Miss Wife, Uhm Jung-hwa experienced another heyday through the drama Doctor Cha.
In My Troublesome Star, which aired last summer, she played Bong Cheong-ja, the country's top star, and demonstrated a wide acting spectrum by navigating between comic charm and realistic emotions. She has built her own domain by freely moving between the stage, the screen and the home theater.
And this summer she returned to theaters once again with OK! MADAM2. OK! MADAM is a work that combines action and comedy based on the twist that Im Mi-young, who was thought to be the owner of an ordinary twisted doughnut shop, was actually a former legendary agent.
Uhm Jung-hwa completed the character Im Mi-young by freely shifting from the image of an ordinary wife and mother to the unrestrained action of a hidden agent. Adding her unique cheerful energy, "Im Mi-young" has become a signature character that showcases Uhm Jung-hwa's action and comedy at the same time.
In OK! MADAM2, which returns after six years, audiences can meet a more evolved Im Mi-young. Uhm Jung-hwa continued boxing and fitness training for the role to raise the completeness of the action. Her relentless bare-handed action, as well as performances that move between comedy and humanism, lead the drama.
As a singer she left behind summer-defining hit songs, and as an actress she has consistently shown new sides while moving between the screen and the home theater. After meeting the public through a drama last summer and a film this summer, Uhm Jung-hwa continues her trajectory as a "summer icon."
[Photo] Courtesy of CGV Pictures
[OSEN]