# Nam Gyu-ri
**Nam Gyu-ri** (남규리; born 1984) is a South Korean singer and actress who debuted in 2006 as the leader and lead vocalist of the female vocal trio SeeYa and later built a second career as a television and film actress.[1](https://namgyuri.jp/html/profile.html) • [2](https://seeya-fanpage.com/history/) Her registered name is Nam Mi-jeong (남미정).[3](https://www.yna.co.kr/amp/view/AKR20190712099500005) Her official Japanese fan-club profile lists her height as 165 cm, blood type O, and education in theater and film at Kyung Hee University.[1](https://namgyuri.jp/html/profile.html) AsianWiki, by contrast, gives her birth date as 1985.[4](https://asianwiki.com/index.php?title=Nam_Gyu-Ri)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1984 (official Japanese fan-club profile); AsianWiki lists 1985[1](https://namgyuri.jp/html/profile.html) • [4](https://asianwiki.com/index.php?title=Nam_Gyu-Ri) |
| Debut | 2006 as leader and lead vocalist of the vocal trio SeeYa, with the album *The First Mind* and the song "Yeoinui Hyanggi" (여인의 향기)[2](https://seeya-fanpage.com/history/) |
| Departure from SeeYa | Left the group in 2009 amid a contract dispute with the agency; the trio disbanded at the end of 2010, with farewell stages in January 2011[5](https://www.yoda.wiki/wiki/Nam_Gyu-ri) • [6](https://www.starnewskorea.com/music/2011/01/30/2011013011312367388) |
| Screen debut | *Death Bell* (고사: 피의 중간고사, 2008), playing the loyal high-school student Kang Yi-na[7](https://www.osen.co.kr/article/G0808020048) |
| Acting awards | SBS Drama Awards New Star Award (2010); MBC Drama Awards Excellence Award, Monday–Tuesday miniseries division (2020)[1](https://namgyuri.jp/html/profile.html) |
| Signature role | Miki in MBC's *The Different* (이몽, 2019), a Gyeongseong club jazz singer who becomes an independence-movement informant[3](https://www.yna.co.kr/amp/view/AKR20190712099500005) |
| Return to music | First solo digital single "HALO" released February 22, 2024; SeeYa reunion for the group's 20th anniversary in 2026[8](https://www.hankookilbo.com/news/article/A2024022120300001345) • [2](https://seeya-fanpage.com/history/) |
## SeeYa, 2006–2011
SeeYa was formed in 2006 by Nam Gyu-ri, Kim Yeon-ji, and Lee Bo-ram. Their first full album, *The First Mind*, released on February 24, 2006, and the lead song "Yeoinui Hyanggi" (Scent of a Woman) quickly found an audience on the strength of the three voices' harmonies, and follow-up songs such as "Gudu" (Shoes) and "Michin Sarangui Norae" established the group as a female vocal act with its own color in its debut year.[2](https://seeya-fanpage.com/history/) The debut brought rookie awards at several year-end ceremonies, including the Golden Disc New Artist Award, the [SBS Gayo Daejeon](https://www.edgepedia.org/sbs-gayo-daejeon) female rookie award, and the [Seoul Music Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/seoul-music-awards) rookie award.[2](https://seeya-fanpage.com/history/) In 2007 the group won the MKMF Female Group Award for "Sarangui Insa" (Greeting of Love) and a Golden Disc main prize in the digital song division.[2](https://seeya-fanpage.com/history/)
**Departure and disbandment.** Nam Gyu-ri left the group in 2009 in a contract dispute with the group's agency, announcing through her lawyer that she was leaving permanently.[5](https://www.yoda.wiki/wiki/Nam_Gyu-ri) The remaining members carried on, and the group formally disbanded at the end of 2010; the three original members, including Nam Gyu-ri, reunited for farewell music-show stages in late January 2011, ending with SBS's *Inkigayo* on January 30.[6](https://www.starnewskorea.com/music/2011/01/30/2011013011312367388) Looking back in 2018, she described the discord among the members as unintended, a product of circumstances when they were young.[9](https://v.daum.net/v/oGGZqaREUB?f=p)
## Transition to acting
Her screen debut came while SeeYa was still active: the horror film *Death Bell* (2008), in which she played Kang Yi-na, a loyal high-school senior who witnesses her friends' deaths and investigates the source of the terror.[7](https://www.osen.co.kr/article/G0808020048) Her television debut followed in 2010 with SBS's weekend drama *Life Is Beautiful* (인생은 아름다워), playing Yang Cho-rong, a role written by the veteran dramatist [Kim Soo-hyun](https://www.edgepedia.org/kim-soo-hyun).[10](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20160817127100033) She has said the audition was difficult because of her singer background and limited acting experience, and that she rehearsed the scripts until they fell apart before winning the part.[11](https://www.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/04/02/2010040200344.html) The role earned her the SBS Drama Awards New Star Award in 2010.[1](https://namgyuri.jp/html/profile.html)
**Building a filmography.** Through the 2010s she took leading and supporting roles across the major networks: Shin Ji-hyun in SBS's *49 Days* (2011), Yoon Se-na in KBS's *Haeundae Lovers* (2012), Yoon Soo-min in JTBC's *Heartless City* (2013), [Lee Na-young](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-na-young) in SBS's *Yeah, That's the Kind of Man* (그래, 그런 거야, 2016), and roles in MBC's *Red Moon Blue Sun* (2018) and *The Different* (2019).[1](https://namgyuri.jp/html/profile.html) On film she appeared in *More Than Blue* (2009), *Mad Sad Bad* (2014), *Deja Vu* (2018), and *A History of Jealousy* (2019).[4](https://asianwiki.com/index.php?title=Nam_Gyu-Ri)
**The Different and Kairos.** In MBC's large-scale period drama *The Different* (이몽, 2019), made to mark the centenary of the [March 1st Movement](https://www.edgepedia.org/march-1st-movement) and the establishment of the Provisional Government, she played Miki, a jazz singer at the Gyeongseong Club who grows into an informant risking her life for the independence movement.[3](https://www.yna.co.kr/amp/view/AKR20190712099500005) She called the role one she had waited for as a former singer, combining her first period drama with a singing character, and said she recorded songs overnight while filming overlapped with *Red Moon Blue Sun*.[12](https://www.kookje.co.kr/news2011/asp/newsbody.asp?code=0500&key=20190717.99099008475) In MBC's *Kairos* (2020) she played Kang Hyun-chae, a violinist and sociopath whose reversals drive the plot, a performance that drew praise for her rediscovery as an actress.[13](https://www.news1.kr/entertain/interview/4156828) The role brought the MBC Drama Awards Excellence Award for the Monday–Tuesday miniseries division in 2020.[1](https://namgyuri.jp/html/profile.html)
She has spoken openly about the "former singer" label that followed her for more than a decade, saying she never tried to shed it in one stroke but worked on the assumption that sincerity would eventually be recognized.[13](https://www.news1.kr/entertain/interview/4156828) In a 2016 interview around the end of *Yeah, That's the Kind of Man*, she described herself plainly as an actress who was not doing well but giving her best, and said her sporadic projects reflected a cycle of being chosen and waiting.[10](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20160817127100033)
## Return to music and the SeeYa reunion
After a 13-year gap from releasing music, she returned as a solo singer with the digital single "HALO" on February 22, 2024, her first solo release, on which she participated in writing and composing as well as singing.[8](https://www.hankookilbo.com/news/article/A2024022120300001345) She has since continued releasing songs, including "Sorrow at My Door" (2025), and runs a personal YouTube channel, "Nam Gyu-ri's Gyulmeong," where she shares her daily life.[14](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PGzQoXZ_vw) • [15](https://v.daum.net/v/20260213070218785)
**The 2026 reunion.** The SeeYa reunion began with a phone call: while performing solo at an event, Nam Gyu-ri could not find a backing track for a SeeYa song and called Lee Bo-ram the night before to ask for the MR file.[16](https://www.tenasia.co.kr/article/2026032689764) A failed reunion attempt after the trio's 2020 appearance on JTBC's *Sugar Man 3* had left accumulated misunderstandings, because the members were at different agencies with different conditions; when the three met again ahead of their 20th debut anniversary, they found all of them wanted to reunite.[17](https://enews.imbc.com/News/RetrieveNewsInfo/503926) The members founded a company, SeeYa Co., Ltd., with Nam Gyu-ri as CEO, Lee Bo-ram as managing director, and Kim Yeon-ji as executive director.[17](https://enews.imbc.com/News/RetrieveNewsInfo/503926) The reunion single "Geureomedo, Urin" (그럼에도, 우린; Nevertheless, Us) was released on March 30, 2026, followed on May 14, 2026 by *First, Again*, the group's first full album in 15 years, and a 20th-anniversary national tour, THE FAN, running from Seoul in August through Busan, Daegu, Goyang, Cheongju, Suwon, and Incheon.[2](https://seeya-fanpage.com/history/)
## References
1. [NAM GYU-RI Japan Official Fan Club – Profile](https://namgyuri.jp/html/profile.html)
2. [SEEYA ARCHIVE – History](https://seeya-fanpage.com/history/)
3. [Yonhap News, "'The Different' Nam Gyu-ri: 'I long for an independent woman'", July 13, 2019](https://www.yna.co.kr/amp/view/AKR20190712099500005)
4. [AsianWiki – Nam Gyu-Ri](https://asianwiki.com/index.php?title=Nam_Gyu-Ri)
5. [Yoda Wiki – Nam Gyu-ri](https://www.yoda.wiki/wiki/Nam_Gyu-ri)
6. [Star News, "SeeYa's tearful farewell", January 30, 2011](https://www.starnewskorea.com/music/2011/01/30/2011013011312367388)
7. [OSEN, "Nam Gyu-ri: 'I'm not posing pretty alone'", August 2, 2008](https://www.osen.co.kr/article/G0808020048)
8. [Hankook Ilbo, "Nam Gyu-ri's confession: 'My life is a comedy'", February 22, 2024](https://www.hankookilbo.com/news/article/A2024022120300001345)
9. [Xports News via Daum, "'Deja Vu' Nam Gyu-ri on SeeYa discord rumors", June 6, 2018](https://v.daum.net/v/oGGZqaREUB?f=p)
10. [Yonhap News, "Nam Gyu-ri: 'I'm not a successful actress but I act my best'", August 17, 2016](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20160817127100033)
11. [Chosun Ilbo, "Nam Gyu-ri: 'I practiced until the script tore'", April 2, 2010](https://www.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/04/02/2010040200344.html)
12. [Kookje Daily News, "Nam Gyu-ri: 'I felt I had grown'", July 17, 2019](https://www.kookje.co.kr/news2011/asp/newsbody.asp?code=0500&key=20190717.99099008475)
13. [News1, "Nam Gyu-ri: 'I have no thought of removing the former-singer label'", December 22, 2020](https://www.news1.kr/entertain/interview/4156828)
14. ["Sorrow at My Door (Prod. ROCOBERRY)" – Nam Gyu-ri, YouTube, September 29, 2025](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PGzQoXZ_vw)
15. [MHN Sports via Daum, "Nam Gyu-ri 20th debut anniversary interview", February 13, 2026](https://v.daum.net/v/20260213070218785)
16. [Ten Asia, "SeeYa reunion began with one phone call", March 30, 2026](https://www.tenasia.co.kr/article/2026032689764)
17. [iMBC News, "Nam Gyu-ri on Radio Star: misunderstandings sank the Sugar Man 3 reunion", May 7, 2026](https://enews.imbc.com/News/RetrieveNewsInfo/503926)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Music scenes › East and Southeast Asian pop scenes › K-pop and the Korean popular music scene › Artists, groups, and people: K-pop and the Korean popular music scene › First- and second-generation idol groups and 1990s dance acts › Surnames K to S*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license