section_path: Career/2015–2021: Acclaim and transition to lead roles
section_name: 2015–2021: Acclaim and transition to lead roles
paragraph_text: 2015–2021: Acclaim and transition to lead roles
  
  In 2015, Kim had a lead role in the Drama City television special, Snowy Road. The two-part drama series is about the " comfort women " in Korea under Japanese rule during World War II, and was later released as a film in theaters. Kim's performance as a 15-year-old comfort woman was praised by both critics and viewers, and she was awarded Best Actress in a Foreign Film at the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival. She then played the main character in the television series To Be Continued and the younger version of Choi Kang-hee 's character in Glamorous Temptation.
  
  She was cast in her first adult role in the 2016 television drama series, Secret Healer, playing a cursed Joseon -era princess. Her character has a fictional romance with Heo Jun, played by Yoon Shi-yoon, who was 14 years Kim's senior. In November 2016, Kim signed with YG Entertainment.
  
  In 2018, Kim starred in the thriller film The Villagers. She went on to star in the fourth season of the campus web drama Love Playlist in 2019. The same year she starred in the thriller drama Leverage, based on the American drama of the same name. In November, it was reported that Kim's contract with YG Entertainment had expired, and that she would be leaving the company. In January 2020, Kim signed with Gold Medalist along with actors Kim Soo-hyun and Seo Yea-ji.
  
  In May 2021, Kim was confirmed to take the female lead role in the 12-episode web series The Great Shaman Ga Doo-shim, with Nam Da-reum portraying the male main lead.
  
  In 2015, Kim had a lead role in the Drama City television special, Snowy Road. The two-part drama series is about the " comfort women " in Korea under Japanese rule during World War II, and was later released as a film in theaters. Kim's performance as a 15-year-old comfort woman was praised by both critics and viewers, and she was awarded Best Actress in a Foreign Film at the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival. She then played the main character in the television series To Be Continued and the younger version of Choi Kang-hee 's character in Glamorous Temptation.
  
  She was cast in her first adult role in the 2016 television drama series, Secret Healer, playing a cursed Joseon -era princess. Her character has a fictional romance with Heo Jun, played by Yoon Shi-yoon, who was 14 years Kim's senior. In November 2016, Kim signed with YG Entertainment.
  
  In 2018, Kim starred in the thriller film The Villagers. She went on to star in the fourth season of the campus web drama Love Playlist in 2019. The same year she starred in the thriller drama Leverage, based on the American drama of the same name. In November, it was reported that Kim's contract with YG Entertainment had expired, and that she would be leaving the company. In January 2020, Kim signed with Gold Medalist along with actors Kim Soo-hyun and Seo Yea-ji.
  
  In May 2021, Kim was confirmed to take the female lead role in the 12-episode web series The Great Shaman Ga Doo-shim, with Nam Da-reum portraying the male main lead.