2016–present: Leading roles in film and television
Jung starred in a Drama Special The Red Teacher in 2016. She was then cast as the female lead in The Sound of Your Heart opposite Lee Kwang-soo in December of the same year. The web drama was a success in China and gained more than 100 million views on Sohu.
In 2017, Jung was cast in KBS weekend family drama My Father is Strange. She also starred in the body-swap comedy Daddy You, Daughter Me opposite veteran actor Yoon Je-moon. She then left SM Culture & Contents in June and signed with new management agency Jellyfish Entertainment. In August, she confirmed her appearance in tvN's romantic comedy series Because This Is My First Life alongside Lee Min-ki. She also released an OST "Because You Are Beside Me" for the drama.
Jung was chosen to play the lead role in The Smile Has Left Your Eyes in 2018. This is an adaptation of the 2002 Japanese television series Sora Kara Furu Ichioku no Hoshi where she also recorded an OST "Star" with her co-star, Seo In-guk. The same year, she was cast in the historical comedy flick Homme Fatale. She wrapped up 2018 with her first radio show Jung So Min's Young Street on SBS Power FM, thus achieving her dream to become a radio DJ someday.
Jung left Jellyfish Entertainment in August 2019 and signed with another management company Blossom Entertainment. She then became a cast member in a healing variety program Little Forest, which is designed as a home kids garden development project for children. In December, she stepped down from her DJ post in Jung So Min's Young Street.
In 2020, Jung starred in the medical drama Soul Mechanic alongside Shin Ha-kyun where she portrayed a musical rising star with terrible anger management issues.
In 2021, she did a cameo in Park Joon-hwa's fantasy romantic comedy My Roommate Is a Gumiho, appearing as the woman whom protagonist Jang Ki-yong loved in the past. She also appeared in TV romance drama Monthly Magazine Home opposite Kim Ji-seok as an editor of a lifestyle magazine Monthly House.
In 2022, Jung returned to the small screen with the tvN period fantasy drama Alchemy of Souls where she played a skilled assassin whose soul is trapped inside the body of servant girl, alongside Lee Jae-wook. However, she only made a cameo in the season 2. In August, Jung signed with TH Company. In September, Jung returned to the big screen for the first time in three years with the sci-fi film Project Wolf Hunting.
In 2023, Jung signed with Ieum Hashtag. In October of the same year, Jung starred in the South Korean romantic comedy film, Love Reset, directed by Nam Dae-jung, co-starring Kang Ha-neul where she played a film producer who suffering from amnesia due to an unexpected accident.
Jung accepted the offer to star alongside Jung Hae-in in 2024 tvN romantic comedy drama, Love Next Door helmed by director Yoo Je-won and writer Shin Ha-eun of Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha where she portrayed a character of a woman who is successful in life but suddenly breaks down one day and returns to her hometown to reboot her life. The drama dominated the ratings for a number of weeks. In 2025, she starred in SBS TV's romantic comedy Would You Marry Me?.
In December 2025, Jung signed with Hiin Entertainment.
