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Seoul International Drama Awards celebrated global talent 20th ceremony

Published: 03 Oct. 2025, 17:21

LEE SOO-JUNG
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Winners of the Seoul International Drama Awards and officials from the organizing committee pose for a photograph at award ceremony held in western Seoul on Oct. 2. [NEWS1]

The 20th Seoul International Drama Awards concluded Thursday with global and Korean actors securing their trophies, said the organizing committee.

The award ceremony was convened at KBS Hall in Yeouido, western Seoul, at 5 p.m. on Thursday. It marked the 20th of its kind since its inaugural ceremony in 2006.

Ju Ji-hoon, who starred in Netflix’s medical drama "The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call," won the award for Outstanding Korean Drama Actor.

Actor Ju Ji-hoon receives an award at the ceremony of the 20th Seoul International Drama Awards in western Seoul on Oct. 2. [NEWS1]

“I am deeply grateful to medical professionals who are saving people’s lives even at this moment,” Ju said during his acceptance speech.

Singer-songwriter IU, who has also pursued an acting career, won the Outstanding Korean Drama Actress title for her lead role in the Netflix series “When Life Gives You Tangerines.”

“The time I spent working on ‘When Life Gives You Tangerines’ will remain my proud and great honor,” IU said.

Singer-songwriter IU receives an award at the ceremony of the 20th Seoul International Drama Awards in western Seoul on Oct. 2. [NEWS1]

The award’s highest honor, the Golden Bird Prize, was given to actor-director Ben Stiller for the second season of “Severance” (2022-).

“This is an incredible honor to be recognized by such a prestigious organization [from a] country that has such an incredible history of filmmaking […],” said Stiller.

Japanese actor Kentaro Sakaguchi was one of the Outstanding Asian Star winners, along with Malaysian actress Anna Jobling and Thai actress Film Rachanun Mahawan.

Bang Moon-shin, chairman of the Seoul Drama Awards Organizing Committee, said it is “meaningful to see the award has grown into an exchange space for dramas from all around the world with 276 entries from 50 countries this year,” giving significance to the worldwide attention that Korean dramas received recently.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG [[email protected]]