Kang Susie was born on May 20, 1967, in Seoul. She immigrated to New York at the age of 16 with her parents, where she lived in Queens and earned money as a teenager in shops and restaurants.[3] She was part of a gospel choir at her local church.
At age 21, having won the Gold Prize at the East American Leg of MBC's College Music Festival in 1989, she was requested by the festival's MC, Song Seung-hwan, to debut as a singer in South Korea. He also recruited her to be the RJ of a newly founded Korean-language radio broadcast.
She returned to South Korea at the age of 23 to debut, where she promoted for 8 years, releasing hit singles such as "Violet Fragrance" (1990), "Scattered Days" (1991), "Scent In The Time" (1991), "You'll Know Then" (1993), "Winter Alone" (1995), "Orpheus' Tears" (1995) and "All I Need Is Time" (1995). She was known for her innocent image, looks and voice, as well as lauded for her songwriting abilities.
She dated fellow singer Shim Shin from around 1991 to 1993, fearlessly admitting so despite the social stigma against celebrities dating and the hate she received from Shim's teenage fans.
In 1994, she forayed into the Japanese music market, releasing various singles and acting in a musical, as well as a Japanese compilation album, "Self Selection".
She married a Korean-American dentist in the United States in 2001, which resulted in a divorce in mid-November 2006. Kang Susie divorced on the condition that she held custody of her then-3 year old daughter, Viviana. She raised her alone in South Korea until she remarried comedian and MC Kim Kook-jin in 2018, whom she met during the shoot of SBS variety show "Burning Youth".