Eugene debuted together with Bada and Shoo as the South Korean trio S.E.S. in 1997. Their debut studio album titled I’m Your Girl sold approximately 650,000 copies, making it one of the biggest-selling albums by a girl group in South Korea. Their other studio albums, namely Sea & Eugene & Shoo, Love, and A Letter from Greenland, were also best-sellers. S.E.S. disbanded in December 2002.


Eugene released the solo albums My True Style and 810303 in May 2003 and August 2004, respectively. In 2004, she headlined the SBS series Save the Last Dance for Me, in which she won the New Star Award at the SBS Drama Awards. In 2010, she starred in the KBS2 drama Baker King Kim Tak-gu, which recorded a viewership rating of 50.9 percent for its last episode. She also picked up an Excellence Award at the 2010 KBS Drama Awards for her work in the series. In 2013, she took on the leading role in MBC drama Hundred Year Inheritance, which was hailed Drama of the Year at the MBC Drama Awards. In 2015, she appeared in the KBS2 family series All About My Mom, which earned her an Excellence Award at the KBS Drama Awards. In 2020, she was cast as one of the leads in the megahit SBS series Penthouse, in which she received a Top Excellence Award at the SBS Drama Awards. She also reprised her role in the second and third seasons of the drama.


Eugene married her Creating Destiny co-star Ki Tae-young on July 23, 2011. They have two daughters together.