Hwang Jung-eum debuted with K-pop girl group Sugar in 2001 as a lead vocalist, but left the group in 2004 to pursue a solo career. Hwang appeared as one of the recurring guests of the variety show Love Letter from 2004 to 2006, in which her onscreen pairing with Kim Jong-min became popular. She officially made her acting debut in the television drama The Person I Love in 2007.

In 2009, Hwang and real-life boyfriend Kim Yong-jun (of boy band SG Wannabe) joined the second season of reality dating show We Got Married as the first real-life couple to be featured on the show. Later that year, she rose to mainstream stardom when appeared in the daily sitcom High Kick Through the Roof.

After her turn on High Kick, Hwang signed numerous advertising contracts. She was later ranked 18th on Forbes Korea’s Top 40 Celebrities in 2011, ranked 7th on the list of richest K-pop idols on Mnet’s Idol Chart Show, and among the Top 7 Female Commercial Stars in Korea as compiled by Ilgan Sports.

In February 2010, Hwang hosted MBC’s Star Dance Battle together with Kim Shin-young, Oh Sang-jin, and Shin Bong-sun.Later in December, she was also one of the co-hosts of the annual music program SBS Gayo Daejeon along with Super Junior’s Heechul, CNBLUE’s Jung Yong-hwa, and 2AM’s Jo Kwon.