it was still considered shocking to many that South Korea even had a film industry. Two years later, Come Come Come Upward, a Buddhist-themed movie also directed by Im, was released. In the film, Kang played the role of Sun-nyeo, a young student who seeks refuge in a monastery to escape from her troubled home; she studies to become a nun and later falls in love. Kang did, in fact, get her head shaved onscreen in the scene when Sun-nyeo becomes a nun. She personally felt proud of her performance—later stating she felt her ego was insignificant to her portrayal and that it was "natural for [Sun-nyeo] to shave her head", due to the character's wish to be a nun. Kang won the Bronze St. George at the 16th Moscow International Film Festival for her role in Come Come Come Upward, establishing further credit as Korea's "world star". In the same year, she was invited to serve as a juror in the Tokyo International Film Festival. In addition, she later became a member of the jury for the 17th Moscow International Film Festival, in 1991. 1990s In the 1990s, Kang appeared in a number of movies, the most notable of which are Jang Sun-woo's Road to the Racetrack (1991), That Woman, That Man (1993) by Kim Ui-seok, Lee Myung-se's Their Last Love Affair (1996), and Im Sang-soo's debut, Girls' Night Out (1998). Road to the Racetrack won her several accolades for best actress at award ceremonies, including the Baeksang Arts Awards, Chunsa Film Art Awards, and the Blue Dragon Film Awards. That Woman, That Man was a commercial success at the box office, and she earned another Baeksang Arts Award for Most Popular Actress (her first being in 1990 for her performance in All That Falls Has Wings). By the end of the decade, Kang had acted in 32 movies. After Rainbow Trout was released in 1999, she cut down her work in film and took to acting on television. The actress was invited to be a juror in the 5th Busan International Film Festival, in 2000. 2000s After a fifteen-year gap, Kang returned to television in 2001. She was given a starring role in Ladies of the Palace (), a historical drama that aired on SBS TV. The 150-episode series was successful, and it managed to garner her renewed visibility among mainstream audiences. Her performance as Jeong Nan-jeong enabled