Hyun Bin at the 62nd Baeksang Arts Awards.

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The 62nd Baeksang Arts Awards (also known simply as the Baeksang Awards), took place on May 8 in Seoul.

Organised by HLL JoongAng and sponsored by Gucci for the fourth consecutive year, the four-hour ceremony was broadcast live on JTBC and live-streamed on Naver. Hosting duties were handled for the eighth consecutive year by the trio of Shin Dong-yup, Bae Suzy, and Park Bo-gum.

Hyun Bin's Viral Moment With Son Ye-Jin

The evening’s most widely circulated moment came when Hyun Bin won Best Actor in the broadcast category for his performance in the Disney+ original series Made in Korea. As his name was announced, cameras in the audience caught his wife, actress Son Ye-jin — herself in attendance as a nominee for No Other Choice — holding up her phone and joyfully filming him walking to the stage.

Hyun Bin’s acceptance speech quickly went viral for what he said when he got there. "My wife Ye-jin, who is sitting right in front of me, and my beloved son — thank you so much for your support during filming," he told the audience. “I am truly grateful to you both and I love you.”

The pair have been married for four years now, and caught the public imagination for their real-life relationship after starring together in mega-hit drama Crash Landing On You.

The King's Warden And The Dream Life Of Mr. Kim Sweep The Daesang

The two Daesangs (or Grand Prizes) of the night, went to veteran actors in both the film and broadcast categories. Yoo Hae-jin claimed the Film Daesang for his performance as an empathetic village leader in The King's Warden, a historical drama that also made history as the first Korean film in years to surpass 10 million admissions at the domestic box office, per the Korea Herald.

The film also took home the Gucci Impact Award, which recognises works with significant social messaging.

On the broadcast side, Ryu Seung-ryong claimed the Grand Prize for The Dream Life of Mr. Kim, a drama following a middle-aged man navigating life after a sudden layoff. In his acceptance speech, he talked about the creative risks the production took, thanking those who supported a series that could have been dismissed within traditional drama frameworks.

Our Unwritten Seoul Wins Best Director And Best Actress

Our Unwritten Seoul — the Netflix series that CJ ENM CEO Yoon Sang Hyun has previously described as his personal favourite K-drama — had a strong night, claiming Best Actress for Park Bo-young and Best Director for Park Shin-woo.

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Park Bo-young took Best Actress in the broadcast division for Our Unwritten Seoul. The win continues what has been a strong awards run for the actress, whose performance was widely praised during the drama's original broadcast run.

Beating out a strong field that included Kim Go-eun, Park Ji-hyun, Shin Hye-sun, and Lim YoonA, she took the stage in a trembling voice and reflected on what the drama had meant to her personally. "I remember the intention behind the planning of this drama," she said, in remarks broadcast live on JTBC. "It was about the question, 'Have you ever thought that someone else's life looked better than your own life?' I think I only looked at the talents that other people had and I did not properly see the effort behind them."

She also spoke about the pressures of competing in the industry, telling the audience she had spent years driven by what she described as a rough desire not to fall behind the skilled actors around her, whom she thanked for being like ‘pacemakers’.

Park Jinyoung, who had been nominated in the same broadcast acting category for Our Unwritten Seoul, was among those cheering her on from the audience.

Park Ji-hoon's Double Win

Former Wanna One member and actor Park Ji-hoon had arguably the most complete night of any individual, winning both Best New Actor in the film category for The King’s Warden and the Naver Popularity Award for Male. His film win placed him among the night’s most-celebrated debuts in cinema, with The King's Warden simultaneously claiming the Film Daesang and the Gucci Impact Award — making it the evening's dominant film-category title by some distance.

A Historic Night For Musicals

This year’s ceremony marked the first time the Baeksang Arts Awards formally incorporated a Musical Division, established through a partnership with the Korea Musical Theatre Association to mark the 60th anniversary of Korean musical theatre.

Three new categories were introduced: Best Musical, Best Performer in Musical, and a Creative Achievement award. Kim Jun-su won Best Performer for his performance in Beetlejuice, choreographer Seo Byung-goo received the Creative Achievement prize for his work on Evita, and Arang was named Best Musical.

Lee Su-ji's Second Consecutive Variety Win

In the variety and entertainment categories, Kian84 claimed Best Male Entertainer, crediting his decade-long career as a webtoon artist alongside the production teams behind his variety appearances.

Meanwhile, Lee Su-ji won Best Female Entertainer for the second consecutive year. Lee was overcome with emotion upon receiving the award and recalled advice from host Shin Dong-yup about approaching others with warmth as a guiding principle.

62nd Baeksang Arts Awards: Full Winners List

Broadcast

Grand Prize (Daesang): Ryu Seung-ryong — The Dream Life of Mr. Kim

Best Drama: You and Everything Else

Best Director: Park Shin-woo — Our Unwritten Seoul

Best Screenplay: Song Hye-jin — You and Everything Else

Best Actor: Hyun Bin — Made in Korea

Best Actress: Park Bo-young — Our Unwritten Seoul

Best Supporting Actor: Yoo Seung-mok — The Dream Life of Mr. Kim

Best Supporting Actress: Lim Soo-jung — Low Life

Best New Actor: Lee Chae-min — Bon Appétit, Your Majesty

Best New Actress: Bang Hyo-rin — Aema

Technical Achievement: Kang Seung-won — The Seasons (Music)

Film

Grand Prize (Daesang): Yoo Hae-jin — The King's Warden

Best Film: No Other Choice

Best Director: Yoon Ga-eun — The World of Love

Best Screenplay: Byun Sung-hyun and Lee Jin-seong — Good News

Best Actor: Park Jeong-min — The Ugly

Best Actress: Moon Ga-young — Once We Were Us

Best Supporting Actor: Lee Sung-min — No Other Choice

Best Supporting Actress: Shin Se-kyung — Humint

Best New Actor: Park Ji-hoon — The King's Warden

Best New Actress: Seo Su-bin — The World of Love

Best New Director: Park Joon-ho — 3670

Technical Achievement: Lee Min-hwi — Pavane (Music)

Gucci Impact Award: The King's Warden

Entertainment and Variety

Best Male Entertainer: Kian84

Best Female Entertainer: Lee Su-ji

Best Educational Programme: Our Shining Days

Best Variety Show: The Wonder Coach

Popularity Awards (Naver) Male: Park Ji-hoon Female: Lim YoonA

Theatre

Best Theatre: Jellyfish

Baeksang Young Theatre: Theatre Company Tank of Fire — Tank of Fire

Best Performer: Kim Sin-rok — Prima Facie

Musical (inaugural year)

Best Musical: Arang

Best Performer: Kim Jun-su — Beetlejuice

Creative Achievement: Seo Byung-goo — choreography for Evita

The Baeksang Arts Awards will return in 2027.