Song Hye-kyo (born November 22, 1981) is a South Korean actress. She was born with a grave illness and doctors did not believe she would survive. She did however recover and her parents registered her birthdate as February 26, 1982.

She gained popularity through her leading roles in television dramas Autumn in My Heart (2000), All In (2003), Full House (2004), That Winter, the Wind Blows (2013) and Descendants of the Sun (2016) which achieved pan-Asia success. The success of Song's television dramas internationally established her as a top Hallyu star. She has also starred in films Hwang Jin Yi (2007), The Grandmaster (2013), My Brilliant Life (2014) and The Queens (2015).

In 2017, she ranked 7th in Forbes magazine's Korea Power Celebrity list. The success of Song's television dramas internationally established her as a top Hallyu star.